Blood, Sex and other Drugs
by A Masquerade Massacre
Summary: Sasuke and Naruto, orphaned at a young age, are thrust into a life of crime upon meeting a famous gang-leader, Kyuubi. With Sasuke's growing drug addiction, and Naruto's ability to easily be manipulated, things seem to always go wrong. Rated M.
1. A Fox in a Suit

Gonna be starting this new story~ 'Cause I always wanna start something new, and yet never finishing any of the old. GO ME. ANYWAYS. Review, please, and tell me what you think about the start. Yes, it's kinda short, but I just wanted to get this out there.

Okay, please review? 3

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><p>"This is so fucked," Naruto stared through light blue eyes that were hardly open, into bright brown, nearly orange orbs. Kyuubi stood at the side of the bed, an unlit cigarette hanging from his pale lips as he buttoned up his shirt. Out of pure laziness he left a couple of buttons undone, reaching for the gold wedding band that had been left on the bedside table,<br>"Yeah, well, that's life." Naruto managed a bitter smirk at the words and rolled his eyes, as he turned over on to his side. He placed his head in his palm and propped himself up on his elbow, opening his eyes a bit more to look the other over. "Quit lookin' at me like that," Kyuubi practically hissed as he twisted the band on to his ring finger, before finally finishing up buttoning up his shirt. He fixed his pants and grabbed his coat off of a nearby chair.  
>"I think the world will end the day you get that woman pregnant." The thought was enough to make him shudder, giving the other a look of disgust, "Talk about anti-Christ."<br>"My child will be beautiful, thank you very much." Kyuubi huffed, slicking his crimson-colored hair over his head, only to have the messily cut, crimson, short bangs fall right back down on to his forehead. "Anti-Christ or not."  
>"They say the devil is beautiful~" Naruto cooed, rolling over on to his back and leaning back on his elbows, pushing himself up a bit to watch the other as he slipped on his shoes.<br>"Makes sense, then, huh?" Kyuubi winked, and Naruto rolled his eyes, but it _did_ make sense. "Whatever," The red-haired male said as he dusted himself off pointlessly, turning for the door. He raised a hand and flicked a wave, not even muttering a verbal goodbye as he left the other's bedroom, and soon, his apartment. Naruto watched, his eyes narrowing a bit in distaste. He wasn't sure how long he had stayed like that, though it wasn't until he felt his arms begin to shake and fall asleep that he finally fell back with a defeated sigh. He turned off the lamp atop his bedside table and he turned over, deciding against checking the time. He already knew he wouldn't be getting much sleep.

Work relationships never worked. It took him a couple of years to realize it, but it sort of hit him on the head when he had gotten an invitation for Kyuubi's wedding in his mailbox. Hell, he hadn't even known he had been dating other people! Now, Naruto wasn't being clingy, truthfully they had never called what they had a 'relationship'. It was more of a friends-with-benefits deal, though he had expected the other to at least tell him he had a girlfriend! It seemed to have never occurred to the red-headed moron that Naruto might feel guilty about being the object of the other's infidelity. Then again, Naruto had gotten himself in this knowing Kyuubi was fucked in the head, truthfully he should have really thought about it before giving the 'okay' for a purely sexual relationship like this. Now, Naruto wasn't saying he loved the man, because… he didn't. He wasn't so stupid and he did have standards, that was for damned sure, but still. Come on. _Married?_ How cruel. He would admit to feeling the slightest bit of guilt, but… four months into the other's marriage and they still visited each other every weekend, and even occasionally they decided to go at it in the other's office. Of course, when they knew no one was around, or at least, when Kyuubi told him no one was around.

Naruto awoke, tired and sore, stretching out his arms with a loud groan, listening as his body cracked and popped uncomfortably. His alarm clock was blaring annoyingly off to the side, and next to that, his phone, vibrating again and again until it eventually fell off the table. Groaning, the blonde leaned over and smacked his alarm clock off before he leaned even further over, feeling around for his phone. He fumbled to flip it open and hold to his ear, only to be welcomed with a slew of curses. "Moronic imbecile, he's fucking sleeping, you take the ph-" "Hello?"  
>The corner of Naruto's mouth twitched, and he rolled his eyes, "Good morning." He said, covering a yawn in the crook of his arm. He began to crawl out of bed, slowly but surely making his way to his feet and soon enough, moving for the bathroom.<br>"You're late…" The voice on the other end breathed out, seemingly calm but Naruto knew better than to fall for the façade`. "Do you need a ride? Kiba is by your apartment complex." Naruto started the water in the shower, thinking over the option as he waited for the water to get warmer.  
>"I have to take a shower first, if you can wait fifteen minutes for me to get ready, sure," The blonde shrugged, "Just… tell Kiba to shut up." The useless dog must have heard, because he heard the same stream of curses in the background, only a lot quieter.<br>"Yeah, we'll see you in fifteen minutes. _Be ready." _Naruto heard the phone click, he rolled his eyes and shut his phone, setting it off to the side before stepping into the shower.

Naruto rushed down the stairs, fixing his tie around his neck as he jumped the last two steps to the first floor. "Good morning, Naruto." The blonde blinked, eying one of his neighbors he passed along the way, he returned the warm smile he was given and nodded in response before continuing on out the two front doors. There awaited the sleek, black car, a window rolled down and Kiba's head poking out,  
>"Get the fuck in the car, would you?" He grumbled past his cigarette, smoke clouding inside his mouth and pouring out into the winter air. The passenger door in the back popped open, revealing the raven-headed Uchiha, who remained seated, his arms folded over his suit-clad chest, and his eyes remaining cast forward. Naruto was used to this look of his for the most part, but he had to admit, sometimes he really freaked him out. "Morning, Sasuke." Naruto greeted the other as he slid in through the open door and got himself comfortable beside the Uchiha, who reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a packet of cigarettes.<br>"Morning," The elder of the two breathed, holding out the open package, and allowing Naruto to take one of the cancer sticks from its place, a thanks being mumbled from the blonde shortly after.

"Boss called me late last night," Kiba spoke up as he turned a corner, sharp enough to send the two men in the back leaning involuntarily slightly to the side, "Real late…" He coughed, "Later than usual, meaning he was out doin' something…" He coughed louder, "Or someon-" Naruto threw Sasuke's pack of cigarettes at the dog, and the car swerved in response. "What the fuck!" Naruto didn't say anything, only shrugged his shoulders and looked out the window, avoiding eye contact with anyone. He had tried to keep his sex-life secret, but it seemed even past high school that was completely impossible. People never changed, always curious about another person's life when it came to intimacy, and who they were being intimate with.  
>"He does have a wife you know…" Sasuke spoke up moments later, covering up a yawn with the back of his hand. "I highly doubt he's able to call you on time like he used to when he lives with a woman who is completely oblivious to the business he leads." Kiba seemed stumped with the reminder, though truthfully, it didn't matter. He had already gotten a rise out of the blonde—it was all that he had wanted. Naruto appreciated the save nonetheless, and looked over his shoulder to the raven, offering him a small smile that seemed to go unnoticed by the other, who kept on staring ahead. Nope, people never changed.<p>

Naruto had grown up without parents, and was shipped off to the orphanage within Konoha city at an early age, he never truly cared because he didn't remember his parents. He had been too young at the time, and the orphanage hadn't been all that bad. For starters, he met Sasuke there. He had never been the most… enthusiastic of children, but Naruto had found himself drawn to the boy nonetheless, and they had a friendship that not a single person in that place could hold a light to. Or, that was Naruto's view on that, he always assumed the only reason he had never been lonely, or depressed by the fact he grew up in such a place was because he had someone so seemingly strong as Sasuke to remind him he shouldn't cry over something he couldn't fix. Of course, the Uchiha never really spoke much to him, but when he did… it reminded him why they were friends. They had this unspoken bond, and Naruto would take a bullet for the guy if it came to it.  
>Though it seemed they had both been undesirables. Never adopted, at the age of sixteen the pair had run off upon hearing the news of a massacre in a nearby building. The news claimed it to be some sort of gang-related violence, and the pair were oddly interested in it. They found themselves in the scene almost 20 minutes after it had been aired over the news, there to look at all the cops, and even manage to get a sneak peek at a couple of bodies within body-bags they had been wheeling out. They weren't too interested on the details, they could piece it together pretty well all on their own. But the important part, really, was the fact that that was the day their lives changed. Amongst the crowd of interested people, and cops holding them back, was a man, clad in a fancy-looking suit with crimson hair, seemingly not a strand out of place atop that head of his. He had a smile that Naruto couldn't help but stare in awe at, pearly white teeth sparkling, lips pulled back from ear to ear, looking like a sneaky fox amongst all these people who stood oblivious. He knew he was the culprit within a second.<p>

Kyuubi had approached them, Naruto wasn't sure why to this very day, and at the time they hadn't bothered to ask either. He offered them a home, a family, money, and a future. How could anyone deny such an offer? Especially two orphaned sixteen year olds! Sasuke and Naruto had been quick to accept the offer, and from that day on, they had been thrust into their daily life of crime. And truthfully, Naruto couldn't say he entirely regretted the decision. Maybe he was just a masochist like that.

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><p>Okay, review! It'll make me happy. And review especially if you want me to continue this, otherwise I won't know if I should or notttt.<p> 


	2. Fading Bonds

So, I'm assuming from all the people who added this to their alerts it's liked so far. But PLEASE review. ; A; It's nice to see people alert this and favorite, but there's nothing better than a written out comment. Make my day, and even suggest ideas for the future. Please and thank you! x3

Enjoy!

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><p>"Who's that?" The three men stood at the opening of their office building, eying a woman who stood at the receptionist's desk, leaning over it with a confused look upon her face. She was fair-skinned, with nearly white blonde hair that fell over her back and over the curve of her rear, curling up at the ends, her silver eyes narrowed slightly at the woman who sat before her. "Looks like a real cun-" Kiba was cut off by a swift hit to the stomach, thanks to Naruto's elbow. He coughed aloud, loud enough to attract the woman's attention. Those eyes locked on to the three men, and a light seemed to hit them. Naruto watched as she waved off the receptionist eagerly and quickly walked her way over to them, her white heels clicking against the marble flooring.<br>"You three," She called out, folding her arms over her breasts, and managing a small smile with her pretty, pink lips. "You work for my husband, I'm assuming?" Naruto's eyes went wide, and his face went a dark red. He probably would have recognized the woman had he chosen to actually attend his boss's wedding, but he had decided against it and instead went off with Sasuke to drink at some sleazy bar. Personally, he felt it was a better use of his time. "Hello?" She tapped her foot, and quickly Naruto realized none of them had spoken up to answer her question, Sasuke was giving her a look, or rather just _his_ look, and Kiba had his mouth hanging open. Naruto was shocked he had yet to start drooling.  
>"Ah, yeah, yeah." Naruto quickly said, managing a small smile, trying his best to hide the guilt that welled up inside of him. It was weird, facing the person whose husband you were fucking. "Anything we-… I can do for you?" Like Sasuke or Kiba would do anything for her.<br>"That woman over there refuses to let me up to see him," She huffed, glancing over her shoulder in the direction of poor Hinata, who's face turned red upon realizing she was being stared at. "Would you mind taking me to h-"  
>"He's in a meeting," Sasuke quickly interrupted, his eyes narrowing the slightest bit. Naruto could tell he didn't like her, though in her defense, Sasuke didn't like a lot of people. Sometimes he had to wonder if he even liked him! "And it's irresponsible for anyone to let you up. You'll have to wait for him to come down and get you himself." Sasuke finished, placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder and urging him forward, deciding against saving Kiba, who remained frozen in place, eyes still locked on to the woman's partially revealed breasts.<p>

"So that's Nibi…" Naruto grimaced once they were out of ear shot, looking to Sasuke whose hand had long since dropped back to his own side, his eyes partially opened and looking straight ahead. "She's beautiful." The blonde decided to comment, glancing back to find her now screaming at the hypnotized Kiba. Dumb dog. "Makes sense, but seriously, the pair are gonna have some… odd bunch of kids." He shuddered at the idea of it, his mind quickly going back to the night before, when he had briefly discussed it with the man himself. "Ever think we made a deal with the actual devil?" Sasuke finally looked his way, arching a brow in slight confusion and seemingly mild interest. "He's got the look for it, I think." Naruto pursed his lips, allowing himself to wonder about it for a moment until Sasuke let out a soft 'hn'.  
>"The Devil doesn't exist, only devilish people do." Sasuke said, matter-of-factly. "Kyuubi is one of those people, but… I suppose we just got lucky as to whose side we ended up on when it came to him." Naruto, nibbling on his bottom lip, got into the elevator with the Uchiha, falling back against the back wall.<br>"You're right." He finally decided, figuring it wasn't worth confusing himself over. They were both well off now, living in extremely nice apartments, spacious and luxurious even. They could get any woman they wanted if they actually tried, even a man, he was sure. They had money, a roof over their heads, and food… So now maybe they weren't the best of people, and they were constantly around equally fucked up people, if not more so… They were alive, and living a good life aside from the obvious flaws.  
>"Why are you thinking about such things?" Sasuke finally asked after a couple of moments of silence passed. Naruto blinked, shrugging his shoulders,<br>"Didn't think Kyuubi would ever get married, doesn't seem like the type. Are we really the type of people to be doin' this kinda shit?" Sasuke stared at him, long and hard, and eventually rolled his eyes and looked away.  
>"Really?" Sasuke huffed, "Kyuubi is getting to be in an age where marriage is normal… We're 24. We have time to consider our mistakes and fix the-"<br>"He's not really fixin' his mistakes though, y'know?" Naruto quickly said, a smirk on his face, "He's just getting a girl… I think he's using her to make his other life seem normal. . . Kinda like what you're doin' with Sakura." Naruto teased, nudging the other. The raven grimaced.  
>"I'm with Sakura because I don't care either way. She's the one that insists she must be in a relationship with me. She's desperate and pathetic." He rolled his eyes, "Besides, if she wants to title herself as my girlfriend, I don't care. So long as I can still get others elsewhere." Maybe they really were fit to be in this kind of profession… they were all seemingly hormone run assholes anyways.<p>

"I feel bad for her." Naruto said upon the elevator doors opening up. He stepped out, sighing, "She seems nice… a bit… odd in the head, and terribly lonely, but… C'mon, the least you could do is not lead her on." Naruto sighed.  
>"You said she's lonely. Consider it community service by filling her void by simply giving her a new, meaningless title." At least he had a seemingly kind reason, but Naruto knew the other just didn't care for breakups, and didn't find it worth his time to meet her, or call her up to do something she would ultimately refuse with all her might. Naruto shrugged it off and decided against arguing with the other on the matter, smiling at a couple of people they passed as they wandered down the hallway.<br>"Hey, is Kyuubi actually in a meeting?" Naruto asked, as they approached their boss's door. Sasuke shook his head, and Naruto smirked.  
>"Just didn't feel like dealing with that woman." He said, "I have a feeling she's going to bitch to him about me." Knowing Kyuubi, whether Nibi knew Sasuke's name or not, just based off description, Kyuubi was going to be able to tell it was the Uchiha who was at fault for his wife's nasty greeting.<br>"She seems like the type to do a lot of bitching." Naruto admitted through a sigh, rolling his eyes a bit. He would have thought Kyuubi would go for someone more tolerable, usually the man couldn't stand people like her… but he supposed it wasn't his right to question him. He may have had sex with the man, but… he was still his boss, and his word was law in this business.

They knocked three times upon the fox's door, and a loud groan was what they believed to be a sign they were able to enter. They turned the knob and pushed their way inside, only to come to an abrupt stop and turn in unison. Kyuubi was the biggest whore of them all, and it was why it came as a surprise to all of them to hear he had not only met a woman willing to put up with his shit, but she also married him. Then again, it was probably because he was rich—she seemed like the type to have a lot of interesting appearances and material things. She probably liked the idea of having someone who could buy her all kinds of shiny things… Maybe she didn't even like him at all, maybe she tolerated him for the money, and maybe she wouldn't even care should she walk in on the same scene he and Sasuke had just walked in on. It was such a shame some women were actually like that… but truthfully, Naruto couldn't find it in him to care _too_ much.

Upon entering the office, Kyuubi was found, his head thrown back in pure ecstasy, his face, usually pale, was a light red. Between his legs, where unbuttoned and pushed down pants lay, was a young woman with cropped short hair, wearing nothing but a pair of thing, see-through underwear. She didn't seem to even noticed the fact someone had walked in, or maybe she had and she was like Kyuubi and just didn't care. Their crimson-headed boss let out a breathless laugh, opening an eye to stare at the backs of the two men, who stood their silent, and awkward. Naruto finally reached out to close the door, to prevent any other poor souls from walking in on the incident. Just because they had to suffer, didn't mean anyone else did. "C-care to join, gentleman?" Kyuubi called out, a groan breaking through his words. Sasuke had reached up and covered his ears, closing his eyes and grimacing, looking a lot like a child from the way Naruto saw it. The blonde was used to these sounds however, and found it easy to bare through it until eventually the boss had finished up and his brunette haired whore was wiping her mouth of the white liquid that dripped past her lips.

Naruto nudged Sasuke to signal it was over, glancing back and eying the pair, who got themselves dressed quickly. The woman, pulling on her shirt and pants, and Kyuubi, tugging his pants up and buttoning them up before dusting them off. He ran the back of his hand over his forehead, cleaning himself of any signs of sweat before he turned to look at the brunette, who turned a deep red upon locking eyes with him. Naruto gagged. "You can let yourself out, can't you, Tenten?" The woman giggled, fixing her coat over her shoulders, she leaned over to the other and pecked him on the cheek before she did as was suggested, leaving the office, and soon, the building. Sasuke cleared his voice, finally turning around to face their boss. "I'm glad you two are here," He slicked back his crimson hair, and flashed a shit-eating smile at his two employees, who stood there silently staring at him, both still somewhat flustered from what they had been unfortunate enough to walk in on. "Asuma's been abusing some of the whores again," He let out a sigh and fell back in to his chair. They ran a series of businesses to circulate revenue, income came from many different places, and when violence was needed, it played its part. All their businesses were shady, and what they were known best for selling? Sex. Made sense, Naruto realized.

Kyuubi's eyes locked on to Sasuke, that smile remaining upon his face, "Could you be a dear and pay him a visit, Sasuke~?" The fox cooed, his head tilting to the side. Naruto's eyes narrowed a bit, before looking to Sasuke, who nodded his head. "Naruto, would you mind joining him?" It wasn't exactly an offer he could refuse, he knew that much. He nodded his head,  
>"Yeah, of course." He quickly said, looking to Sasuke and managing a smile that wasn't returned.<br>"Your wife is downstairs," Sasuke said, changing the topic. Kyuubi rose his head, arching a brow, then grimacing a bit. He let out a breath and he stood from his seat. He fixed his suit, dusting off his shoulders.

"Get on Asuma now, please. I expect a report back by five." Kyuubi demanded, both Sasuke and Naruto nodding in response, and stepping aside to allow the crimson-haired fox exit from his office. The blonde and the raven exchanged glances, and sighed in unison before following the man out, closing the door behind them.

Asuma was an annoying bastard, a violent drunk that Naruto personally didn't enjoy the presence of very much. His biggest issues was keeping himself from half-strangling the whores to death. Sure, it was true they paid to receive the attention they desired, and demanded of his partner, but… when girls start forming bruises, Kyuubi was never too pleased. It happened a handful of times, which in the boss's view was one too many. The girls were nice, the ones Naruto had met… A lot nicer than you would have expected a whore to be. Of course, some of them were fucked in the head, or stuck up, truthfully, Naruto didn't care much if _those_ particular whores got tossed around a bit—was that horrible? Entering the brothel, Sasuke and Naruto were met with a wide lobby, filled with various bookshelves, stocked from side to side with old looking texts that no one seemed to dare touch. The ceilings were high, and lamps dangled and poured light over the room. They tried to keep it classy here, and the rooms were really nice, the ones Naruto had the opportunity of seeing, anyways. They ranged with sizes, he noticed, but he didn't question why. Of course, he had never come her as a customer, if only because as an employee he could easily pick someone out of this building and have his way with them for free—not to say he did that! No, he and Sasuke had to come down here often to stop Asuma who would often remain in the rooms and refuse to leave after being yelled at by management who the girls would scream for.

"Asuma…" Sasuke sighed upon entering the room, eying the tan-skinned old man who sat in the rocking chair in the far left corner of the room. Neither Naruto or him were really in the mood to deal with such an annoying, horny, old bastard. But he knew Kyuubi would be the farthest thing from pleased should they ignore his request. "You have to leave, Kyuubi's truly growing tired of you." The Uchiha intertwined his own fingers together in front of his waist, looking to the other. Naruto shut the door and came up beside the raven, his eyes locked on to the old bastard, that sat there with a cigar hanging out of his mouth and the occasional puff of smoke pouring out of his slightly parted lips. Naruto grumbled. Cigar smoke made him sick, and it was all the guy smoked! Whenever he was around, there he was with a lit cigar in his mouth. Did he even take the damned thing out of his mouth during sex? He shuddered at the thought as he approached the other, swiftly grabbing the cigar from the other's mouth, and tossing out the open window off to the side.  
>"Just get out before we gotta hurt ya' old man." Naruto urged, nudging the old fools shoulder, looking to Sasuke who remained a good few feet away, having folded his arms over his chest. Asuma seemed to think over their "suggestions" for a couple of moments before seemingly deciding against leaving. Both Naruto and Sasuke groaned, exchanging glances before they both looked back to Asuma, who was looking at the both of them back and forth, a small, cocky grin on his face.<p>

The pair of boys were quick to take action, and mercilessly beat in Asuma's face, taking out a bit of their own rage due to Kyuubi and how his simple presence seemed to just pile thick amounts of stress directly atop their shoulders. The man was soon crawling out of the room with his face broken and bloodied, and he left Naruto and Sasuke to wipe their bruised fists against their pants and cleaning them of the crimson liquid that was Asuma's blood. "I hate that guy." Sasuke grumbled out softly, touching at his knuckles before turning to Naruto, who sighed, undoing his tie and wrapping it about his own hand in an attempt to make it feel better.  
>"So do I…" He grimaced, "Let's just go and get back to Kyuubi, fill him in." Naruto urged, nodding for the door. Sasuke nodded quickly in agreement and soon they were both off and out of the room, eager to leave this place and hopefully slack off for the rest of the day… or even better! Get a meal together! It had been a while since he had really been able to hang out with Sasuke. They last time he could recall, was Kyuubi's wedding, which had been almost a month and a half ago or so. That was long, he felt, and the idea of having some decent friend time with the other got him a bit excited. "If Kyuubi's out when we get back, wanna spend whatever time we have left before five to grab some lunch?" The blonde asked hopefully, watching Sasuke's face for some kind of change in expression. None came, of course.<p>

"Ah, I'm not sure." The Uchiha admitted, "Karin is dragging me off to help her with something…" Naruto's face immediately drooped dramatically when his offer had been shut down and for someone like Karin of all people, "If not, sure." There was a faint bit of hope in Naruto, but he knew not to get his hopes up with Sasuke, who would more than likely not have the ability to and get lunch with him.

It wasn't until the past year that they immediately had started to drift. At first, he had assumed Kyuubi had been trying to purposely separate them. They had been given different working hours, different jobs… They had never been together. Slowly they got back on track together, but even then, it was rare they even had times like this. Naruto was a confused young man, with a lot of issues, but he never thought Sasuke to be any less of a friend as he had been just a couple of years back. He was still like family to him, and well… it only made sense to want to strengthen his bonds with the raven, whom he hadn't had much time with in what felt like quite some time. But sadly, Sasuke just always seemed busy… He had to admit, it hurt him some time. He felt as though he had lost a person to talk to, who was he supposed to cry to about Kyuubi? Not to say he would exactly go running into Sasuke's arms, but… the Uchiha almost always had something wise to say to help guide Naruto… but no matter when he asked, Sasuke just seemed to be busy.

Back at the building, after checking around for Kyuubi to no avail, it came to their separation. The red-headed Karin had appeared outside of the building, the hood to her black sweatshirt pulled up and hiding her face, and with long dark lashes that beat at an all too fast pace, and a look of absolutely seduction, she whisked him off to go force him to help her with what Naruto could already assumed was a meaningless task, or maybe even sex. Oh, he really did wish Sasuke would stop getting with such annoying women! They would be the death of him, he was certain. "Naruto!" The blonde turned and was faced with another blonde, a woman with light blue eyes, and long hair that was pulled back into a pony tail atop of her head. She smiled warmly, hooking her arm around his. "Sasuke ditch you again?" She pouted, making Naruto groan and roll his eyes, as he attempted to walk off, only to be dragged in the opposite direction. "C'mon, I need your help with some paper work. You look like you wanna bitch anyways." Ino was a nice girl, actually, one of the few he could stand nowadays it seemed to be, and at one time Naruto would often go to her just to vent, but much like his relationship with Sasuke, it began to drift as work was piled on. "We haven't talked in a while, anyways." The girl insisted, as she brought Naruto into her office and closed the door behind the both of them. "I just need you to help me sign Kyuubi's name to these papers. He's too lazy to do it himself, so he just told me to get it all done." She rolled her eyes and huffed as she walked behind her desk and plopped down, gathering up the paperwork and sliding half over for Naruto to work on. The blonde sat himself across from the woman, and grabbed a pen out of the cup that was set off to the side.  
>"How have you been, Ino?" He asked, as he began to forge his boss's signature on seemingly important documents.<br>"I've been fine, clearly busy, but I'm sure you could understand that," She sighed, "What about you? I'm hearing rumors about you and Kyuubi again." Rumors would come and go, and they were always the same. Naruto was sleeping with the boss, a lot more than most employees who would occasionally throw themselves at him for the hell of it, for maybe a higher ranking of some sort.  
>"Ah… Yeah." Naruto admitted quietly, clearing his throat. He continued to scrawl the signature down, paper after paper, occasionally glancing up to look at Ino, who's brows furrowed.<br>"That's so unhealthy. You know you're not stable enough be with someone like…. _Kyuubi…_" She shuddered noticeably and made a sound of disgust. "I mean, I work for the man, but… C'mon, you know you have the ability to get anyone you want, right?" She chuckled, looking up from the paper work to eye the head of blonde hair before her.  
>"I know, I know." Naruto waved her off, sighing. "I'm trying to figure myself out Ino, and I'm trying to get out of this thing with Kyuubi… It's all the weirder now that he's married." Ino nodded in agreement, looking back down to her work and continued to write out the signatures.<br>"How about Sasuke, how's he doin'?" She asked almost nervously, briefly looking over to the other before she went on writing.  
>"I wouldn't know… he's been so busy lately it's seemed." Naruto grumbled softly, setting down his pen and rolling his wrist, he wasn't used to writing so much, his job didn't really require it.<p>

"He still... you know..." Sasuke had had a bit of a drug problem upon their starting up, and while it was all good, done and over, some people couldn't seem to forget about it, and Naruto was one of them. He shook his head, and sighed.  
>"I don't think so," He nibbled on his bottom lip, "He's been spending a lot of time down by the Cursed Mark though." The Cursed Mark was a drug industry that's company basically competed with Kyuubi's business at every turn. It's owner, Orochimaru, was a disgusting man whom never seemed to take his eyes off Sasuke whenever he was in his presence... It was disgusting, and horrifying. "But I haven't seen any evidence of him actually... y'know, doing anything." Ino seemed relieved by the news, and she let out a soft sigh to display her feelings.<br>"Good," She said with a nod of her head.

"He still with that whore?" Ino asked, making Naruto laugh softly as he picked his pen back up and leaned forward.  
>"You mean Sakura, or Karin?" Naruto corrected, "He's… " He sighed, "I don't even know what's with him. He's "with" Sakura, but not at the same time. He thinks it's okay to let her think this is a closed relationship, but he's off still attacking anyone he can, namely Karin and a bunch of other disgusting sluts." He frowned and paused in his writing, setting the pen down. "It's actually kinda pissing me off, y'know? You'd think if you could get anyone you wanted, you would pick someone… decent, and not crazy." Ino chuckled softly, and shrugged her shoulders.<br>"Isn't Sasuke the type not to believe in romantic love? He probably doesn't believe in marriage either," She rolled her eyes, "He's the type that's gonna fuck a lot of immature whores, and he'll figure life out the hard way when he's entirely alone in the future and living off coke and heroin. He'll burn bridges, and lot of them, with the way he lives life." Naruto grimaced- it was a bit of a harsh blow towards his friend, but he couldn't really find it in him to disagree. She shook her head in slight disappointment at the thought, "I see him turning into Kyuubi, at this rate." Naruto looked up, his brows furrowing. He hated the idea that someone like Sasuke could turn into someone like Kyuubi, it truthfully made him the slightest bit nervous and he frowned at the idea.  
>"You don't really think he would become… <em>that<em>." Ino shrugged, though she seemed pretty confident in her theory that Sasuke would be the next number one asshole-whore in a couple of years, should Kyuubi ever choose to step down. For Sasuke's sake how hoped that never happened… he liked the old Sasuke… "But… Naruto, he's your best friend. He may be a blind fool, but I doubt he'll just… leave you." She smiled warmly, "You just gotta be persistent with him, don't let him shove you off to the side like that. You know whatever he's going out to do isn't that important." She smirked, shaking her head. "You could do so much better yourself, though, y'know?" She smiled warmly and tilted her head to the side, "I still see you around, you follow every person you meet around like a lost puppy thinkin' they're gonna help you out of these problems of yours." She pointed her pen at him, "You gotta work to fix yourself, or at least try… 'cause right now Sasuke ain't gonna help you, and Kyuubi's gonna break you and laugh at you afterwards." Naruto frowned, and dropped his gaze to the remaining stack of papers before him.

He knew she was right. He depended on so many people at so many different times, and then he was thoroughly disappointed when they didn't come through. He should have guessed Sasuke would shut him down today, and last night Kyuubi would take advantage of him and leave him without so much as a flick of his hand. He knew what was going to happen next almost all the time, and yet he still wandered in blindly and let himself get crushed. He was an idiot, a fool, and he knew he had to work on himself a bit more before he could try and find someone to really help keep him up. It was just going to take some time.

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	3. The Addictions

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><p>Naruto and Sasuke dipped out of view and slammed their backs against the wall, where they panted for a long while until they heard footsteps rushing after them not too far away. "C'mon," Sasuke urged, gripping the edge of his deep orange jacket and dragging him along down the long stretch of alley way, until they eventually dove behind a dumpster at the far end. Sasuke kept their backs to the wall and he held a hand over Naruto's mouth. Truthfully, it seemed he was more so meant for this job than him, he never saw this side to him before, this… athletic side. However, whenever they were out in the city when they were younger, the raven would manage to steal them food along the way—so he supposed he should have seen this coming. Naruto just didn't expect himself to be dragged along for the ride… He never really thought he was cut out for this job, he only went along with it because it meant what would hopefully a good life. But as of that moment, they were still very much homeless, aside from the occasional couple of days that Kyuubi let them sleep in his spare apartment, where he takes all his whores for the night, and lets them both sleep in the living room. Life hadn't changed much, only now they were getting a lot more exercise than they were used to.<p>

Sasuke dropped his hand from Naruto's face and slumped back against the wall with a groan. "They gone?" Naruto asked, leaning forward a bit and peeking from behind the dumpster. He didn't see anyone, but still, he didn't dare move and further than that. "That was… dangerous…" He breathed out, his brows furrowing as he let himself fall back against the wall with Sasuke, who's eyes were fixated on the brick wall directly across from them. "Hey Sasuke…" This brought the raven's attention back to Naruto, near-black eyes staring into wide, childlike blue ones. He arched a brow. "Do you think we made a bad choice?" Naruto asked, reaching up and wiping the back of his hand against his sweaty forehead, doing his best to judge the other's expression, only to fail. The boy just wore such a thick mask!  
>"It's only been a couple of months…" The Uchiha breathed out, "He never promised us anything in a day." He was right. They were told they could get a lot, but a time was never stamped upon the package, he supposed. Sasuke and Naruto lay there quietly for some time, until he felt Sasuke digging around in his pocket. He turned and watched him with his brows furrowed until the other finally revealed to him a never-opened package of cigarettes.<br>"What are you doing?" Naruto asked, his eyes narrowed, a scowl upon his face, "That'll kill you." Sasuke wasn't listening, as he undid the plastic wrappings and opened it up. He got out the first cigarette his dirty fingers could wrap themselves around and pulled it out. Naruto eyed the cancer stick, and if looks could kill, that stick would be shred up into a million little pieces.  
>"It's just a cigarette, relax." Sasuke urged the other as he placed it between his lips and reached back into his pocket for a lighter. Naruto had never seen Sasuke smoke before, and he wasn't even aware he carried lighters apparently, as the other pulled out a metal Zippo lighter with some scratches and smudges upon it.<p>

He watched with some mild disappointment as the other ran the flame beneath the end of that cigarette and sucked in a lung full of smoke, ultimately dirtying his body. Sasuke took it like a champ, and it made him wonder if he had done it before. He watched, as he blew out a cloud of smoke, and Naruto sighed as he leaned back against the wall. "You're a moron…" He grumbled softly, shaking his head. Sasuke managed a small, bitter chuckle, and he rolled his eyes in the process.  
>"Be thankful it's nothing worse. We're homeless; we could be doing a lot of bad shit." Sasuke grumbled, "I think it's 'cause I got you that I'm not a coke-head in some dumpster right now." Sasuke wasn't known for speaking much, and when he did, he definitely didn't come off and spout shit like that out… Naruto found himself staring at him for a long time, his heart fluttering in his chest, before a large, child-like grin spread across his face from ear-to-ear. He reached over and snatched the cigarette the Uchiha had managed to suck on a good three or four times by that point, and he snapped it in two before throwing it into a nearby puddle. Sasuke looked dumbfounded, and eyed the puddle that now held his cigarette before he slowly turned his attention to Naruto. The blonde had a smug look upon his face, his arms folded over his chest and his head rested back against the brick wall. Regardless, the raven didn't get another cigarette. He tucked the pack away where the blonde would hopefully avoid reaching, and he let themselves enjoy the brief moment they had to relax before they eventually had to return to Kyuubi.<p>

A year or so later was when life had begun to get better. It was around a time where they had finally been able to get their first apartment. Granted, they had to get it together, and become roommates, it wasn't anything they hadn't expected, or minded for that matter. They had lived together practically their whole lives… it would have felt weird….  
>They had some money to spare, a decent apartment that they shared with each other, and a job that got them practically anything they wanted. That was what Sasuke would always go on about, anyways. Naruto had noticed something shift within the male over that first year and he wasn't sure if it was for the better, or for the worse. Naruto sadly couldn't stop his smoking habit, and much to his disbelief, there was now a cigarette hanging out of his own lips these days. Turns out, Sasuke just had that effect on him… the man could push hard drugs into his lap and over time Naruto would have a shoelace tied about his arm and he would be shooting up heroin.<p>

Sasuke had found other addictions aside from drugs though, he had noticed; sex. It was natural, for a seventeen year old to be experimenting, so he supposed he shouldn't have found it to be all that odd. But, every time he brought someone home out of a drunken haze (had he mentioned he started drinking too? No? Well, he had) Naruto just watched with distaste. Not to say the girls he brought home were unattractive, but… it just made him uncomfortable. At first, anyways. Over time, living with the now growing Sasuke, whose hormones never seemed to stop racing rapidly through his body like fire, Naruto was becoming no better. He would go out with the Uchiha, with their fake ID's, and he would drink the night away, he would drink, smoke, and bring home girls like it was his _job. _It had felt so good, so_ damn_ good. All the sex, and the haziness, he would be lying if he said he remembered every part of it—because he didn't. All he did know, was that somewhere in the mix, him and Sasuke had gotten involved for the first time. Naruto had been drunk and Sasuke? It wasn't until later he had been told he was high. He wished he could have remembered the night in detail, but he couldn't… all he could remember was waking up the next morning to a naked Sasuke, and an extremely sore lower back. He had felt sick, and scared, and… so damned confused. And yet, when Sasuke woke up and realized what happened, as always, he walked it off like a champ.

Another year had gone by, and they had remained living together in that apartment. Naruto after that good few months of doing nothing but fucking whoever he could with a short enough skirt, and drinking anything with a single bit of alcohol in it, had begun to calm down. The work had piled on, and he took that as his cue to settle down with his seemingly growing bad habits. Sasuke, however, had took it as a sign to kick start them further. He drank more, he smoked more, and along the way he picked up cocaine. He hadn't realized it at first, he had never been told what high people were like, and he never really looked into it. Nor did he know until later he had done it several times before, one of the times being the first time they slept together. And yet, through it all, he did his work, and Naruto, after some, had wished he would slip up just once so he had a reason to tackle him to ground and tell him what he was doing to himself was killing him. He wanted to be back to goody-two-shoes-Naruto, and be the angel that came along and snatched the cigarettes out of his hand and threw them into puddles and told him to stop… but that had long since passed and really, how was Naruto supposed to help someone when he still couldn't stop drinking when he had some free time? Sure, drinking wasn't as bad as snorting a line off of a bathroom sink, but he couldn't exactly say much when he was drunk half the time he realized Sasuke was high.

"Sasuke." Kyuubi called out, raising a hand and pointing at the raven haired male. He bent said finger, and urged the boy forward, and Naruto watched anxiously as Sasuke went on forward. What it was about, at that moment in time he had no clue. The only thing he knew was that Sasuke was far from there, mentally, and he just worried he might say something that ultimately could get him killed. "What have you been spending your money on, hn?" Sasuke blinked at the words, tilting his head to the side. Naruto had learned the signs of the past year, and he realized he could tell just by looking at the Uchiha whether he was high or not, and he had a feeling Kyuubi had that same skill.  
>"The apartment, sir. Food. Drinks." At least he didn't lie about the last part, but he doubted that was what Kyuubi was searching for. Those red eyes narrowed, and that had been the first time Naruto saw him look at either of them that way, and within those eyes held death, and Naruto feared it.<br>"Anything else?" He asked. He sounded like a parent, a parent who knew something and something bad, and he wasn't about to say it until the child said the words himself. Sasuke, however, was no ordinary child. He was a liar, a boy born with a natural poker-face, even when high off his rocker.  
>"The apartment, food, and drinks, sir." He answered him again, narrowing his eyes almost dangerous. At that point, Kyuubi looked about ready to stand from his chair, taking the raven by his hair and rip his head straight off of his shoulders… or so Naruto thought, because the first thing the blonde did was rush forward and push Sasuke out of the way and spill his secret,<br>"Cocaine!" He gasped out, "He's doing coke…" Naruto trailed off, shocked by his own words. He heard a sharp intake of breath from behind him, and he didn't want to turn to see what Sasuke's face looked like… he doubted the raven was smiling at him.  
>"Cocaine?" Kyuubi spoke the word slowly, and he rose a brow, tilting his head to the side. He stared at Naruto for a long while before eventually looking to Sasuke, who didn't look scared in the least. "Please, I run a business of sex and drugs," The man laughed, "Walking into my office with those eyes, thinking I wouldn't notice?" He shook his head and stood from his chair, folding his arms over his chest. "Disrespecting the person who gives you the money to live this life of luxury?" The man seemed dangerously close to killing one or the both of them, "Walk into my office like this again, and I'll be certain you receive a fine punishment." It was the first threat either of them had gotten, and Naruto remember how those words burned into his own mind. His stomach did flips, and he quickly retreated from the room with Sasuke in tow.<p>

Sadly, not much had changed though. Sasuke continued with his coke-binges, but never again walked into that office under the influence of anything. And as time went on, he got into worse things, things Naruto couldn't catch in time to prevent. He felt horrible, like a really horrible friend, the day he walked in on Sasuke sticking a needle into his arm and ridding the syringe of its nasty fluids straight into his veins. He remembered how sick he felt, and how… helpless he felt, how he couldn't do anything for him but watch him slowly kill himself. He wasn't sure why it was happening, why he had decided to do this to himself. He just remembered that slowly as their pay increased, the other's drinking and drug habits grew worse. At one point, Naruto had been a person who kept Sasuke safe from these things, but he slipped up once, and drinking became a part of his life, and around that time, he felt as though Sasuke had dove deeper into the darkness when Naruto was too drunk to notice. He hadn't been able to stop him, and probably only made it worse.  
>"Stop it, please stop." Naruto practically begged as Sasuke lay on his bed. His room smelled of stale booze and sex, and his drawers were home to all kind of drugs as well as the items needed to use them. His skin was paler than usual, his lips cracked and his nose always bleeding. His arm was nothing more than a home to various, very noticeable tracks that Naruto couldn't help but near tears when he stared at. This wasn't how their life was supposed to be…<p>

Later that week, Sasuke moved out. Naruto hated him for it, for a long time… and Kyuubi hadn't been too pleased either, if only now he knew he had more of a chance of getting himself killed with Naruto watching him. For a long time, Sasuke didn't come back to work, and Naruto was left running jobs with a man named Sai, whom ended up later being a good friend of his. Though at the time, he hadn't exactly been pleased with Sasuke's replacement, and actually had been utterly disgusted by the idea that Kyuubi actually thought Sasuke _could_be replaced. He rebelled against the idea for a long time until eventually there was no use, and he had to get back into the swing of things with the dark-haired, seemingly emotionless freak of a person. But it was hard, because all he could think about was Sasuke. He didn't know where he was, what he was on, or if he was currently alive or not, and each night that tore him up inside.

It had been a couple of months of readjusting to life and coping with the fact he no longer had his best friend at his side, and Naruto liked to think he had gotten back into the swing of things. Kyuubi never said anything about Sasuke, though he knew he knew things about where the Uchiha was… towards the beginning to had asked him a lot of questions, but the stupid fox had refused to mutter a single word. Naruto himself, had kept quiet about Sasuke for some time, but that didn't mean the Uchiha had left his mind… during those few couple of months, towards the end, was around the time he had gotten desperate. He had slipped into Kyuubi's office late, when he knew he was still there, and he had tried to coax information out of him. It probably wasn't the best idea, trying to trick the most dangerous man in the city out of information, but… He had to know if Sasuke was at least alive and somewhere safe. That night, had been probably the worst night of his life, it had been the beginning to what was ultimately his downfall. It was the night had and Kyuubi had had sex for the first time, and there wasn't a single day after that had he regretted the decision. After that first night, they had sex almost daily. And with each painful and emotionally empty fucking session, Naruto got a bit more information out of the red-headed man. Sasuke was apparently living on the outskirts of town, with a man named Orochimaru. Apparently, He was the one who had been dealing him drugs all this time, and now they were in a relationship… For some reason the news shot a bullet straight though his chest, and years later, he wasn't entirely sure it had been entirely dug out.  
>Regardless, Naruto got the information he had wanted, and ultimately, it made him feel worse. He hated to admit he had actually slipped in a painful depression—he had started to drink some more, and aside from being used as Kyuubi's personal fuck toy, he brought whatever girl he could home, he used his apartment for nothing more than sex and drinking, and over time he wondered if this was why Sasuke got into cocaine… because after some time, the drinking made him feel empty and sick, and it lost its light to him. He wondered if Sasuke had been seeking out something more, a better and bigger high, something to hold him over while he felt like this… Naruto supposed he couldn't blame him, <em>he felt awful<em>. And if he had had some cocaine on him at that moment, he wasn't entirely sure a damned thing could be done to stop him from snorting it all. Thankfully he hadn't any on him, and thankfully, he never sought it out. He remained as he was; a drunk, and utterly empty, and all at the age of eighteen nearly going on nineteen. How things had turned to shit so fast was beyond him, but it was certainly sickening.

It was a week after his birthday, that Naruto took a much needed break from work as a present to himself. Kyuubi had been very nice as to throw him a little in-office surprise for him, but much to his disappointment, Sasuke wasn't there… and truthfully upon realizing that, it had been hard to thoroughly enjoy the cake and booze that came along with being nineteen. His two days off hadn't been all that productive, the first day he spent sleeping in late, watching horrible movies until night time, and from there he went to the bar around the corner, got fucked up, and went home… And the second day, he repeated the process. He had gotten thoroughly drunk, and returned home, only this time around, he found someone standing at his door. He was tall, and yet slouched over with his forehead pressed to the door, he was saying words, but Naruto couldn't make them out as he stumbled forward, towards the stranger. The man was apologizing, and seemingly sobbing. What was he crying about? What happened to him? Why was he apologizing? _Why did he know my name_? Naruto had heard his name uttered and immediately he stopped in his tracks, "Sasuke?"  
>Sasuke was high, and Naruto was drunk and ultimately their first time meeting after however many months had turned into a glorious night of under the influence sex that thankfully this time around, Naruto remembered in full details. He remembered how rough the other was, and how much it hurt, and he remembered how fucking good it felt after he had started to get used to it. It felt better than any time with Kyuubi, and it feel better than any time he had gotten drunk, and any time he had fucked some random slut from a bar.<p>

He awoke the next morning feeling horrid though, and with a body next to his own that he just stared at for a very, very long time. He was shocked, confused, and utterly lost, as he stared at the head of hair beside his own, and as if to test that he was actually there, he had reached up and very carefully ran his fingers through the dark locks. They felt dirty and sweat-matted, but he still found himself enjoying the touch for some odd reason. His heart felt like a rock in his chest and he was shocked, even years later, that he hadn't broke into hysterics.

Sasuke stayed with him for a good week, with a promise that he wouldn't get high anymore. And Naruto countered that promise; with saying he would stop drinking. Neither remained entirely true, because when Sasuke slipped up, Naruto did too. But it became less frequent, and over time, Sasuke had gotten back to work with him. Naruto was never entirely sure how Kyuubi had felt about it, he had been skeptical at the time of Sasuke's ability to return, but Naruto found that the power of sleeping with your boss came in handy with times like these. Sasuke had been allowed back, and for some time had a lot of eyes watching him closely, just waiting for him to fuck up. Thankfully, the Uchiha was a professional. No matter how bad his withdrawal symptoms got, work came first. And Naruto was there to help him through it all… He was there when he was puking up his guts in one of the stalls at work, and he was there at night when Sasuke couldn't stop shaking or whining. And over the years, he had liked to think they had both gotten a bit better—healthier. He never saw Sasuke doing drugs, again, and usually, if they were free, they would go out and share a drink together… They wouldn't go crazy, unless it was for a special occasion. He felt like by the time they turned 21, things had gotten normal again. They had picked up where they had left off at sixteen… Sure, they smoked, and they drank, but they weren't stuffing their dicks into anything with a whole, or snorting white stuff off a bathroom sink, or shooting up heroin into their veins. As far Naruto was concerned, that was pretty damned good.

But Sasuke still found the need to move out by the time Naruto turned 22. He hadn't been pleased with the idea at the time, if only because he didn't understand it, and wanted to be there for the Uchiha, should he get himself into any more trouble… but he knew he had to trust the raven. The pair had moved out of that apartment, and with their money, which was now at even more of an abundance, they purchased different apartments for themselves. Nicer ones. It was a bit of a transition at first, living alone, but with the amount they saw each other on the weekends, or at work, it made up for the change, he supposed.  
>It was a year later that Naruto found out Sasuke was seeing a woman named Karin, an infamous cokehead, that helped run illegal businesses with Orochimaru. The name to this day made him sick to his stomach. However, when Sasuke would visit, he never seemed… <em>gone.<em> And when Naruto would visit the other's apartment, there was not a single sign of drug use, and it filled him with pride and happiness to see… but it didn't mean he wasn't nervous.  
>Upon news hitting Kyuubi that Sasuke was seeing a girl who worked against him, well… the man wasn't pleased to say the least. There had been a lot of yelling, and a lot of threatening, and for a while Naruto worried they would be right back to where they started and Sasuke would continue that path downward and would suddenly disappear off the face of the earth just like he had the last time. But much to his surprise, and of course, pleasure, Sasuke didn't go anywhere. He continued hanging out with that horrid woman, but Naruto was pleased to find that Sasuke remained clean and truthfully he couldn't ask for anything more. Kyuubi never stopped watching him though, and when things went wrong, Sasuke was often the one that was blamed, even if it didn't entirely make sense. He supposed it was the price Sasuke would have to pay.<p>

But Naruto couldn't help but feeling as if he was paying a price as well, over the past year he felt that he was drifting from Sasuke, that they weren't as tight as they once were. Sasuke was either with Karin, or Orochimaru, and it made him sick whenever the raven spoke either of their names. Without anything to do that night, Naruto found himself at home, a beer in one hand, and the remote control in the other. He was flipping through late night movies, and it seemed no matter how far along he flipped, not a single thing sparked his interest. With hardly a buzz going on, he managed to get his ass off the couch, and he wandered over to the kitchen, where he retrieved another beer, and put some instance mac-and-cheese into the microwave. He waited there, for it to finish its two minutes within the confines of the microwave before he pulled it out, added cheese, mixed, and was prepared to be eaten away by the blonde. But upon returning to the living room he spotted a head of black hair sitting at his couch. Naruto stood there for a moment, before a small smile touched his lips, "Hey…" Naruto breathed, as he wandered alongside of the couch and plopped down beside Sasuke. He set his food and beer down upon the coffee table, eying his friend only to find he had his face hidden within his hands, and his hair was a mess atop his head. "What's…wrong…?" He was shaking, and Naruto's eyes narrowed. "Are you _high?_" The word felt almost strange to say now, it had been so long, and it made his stomach to flips. He scooted closer to the other, and forced the other's hands to fall from his face.

He forced Sasuke to raise his head, and he stared into his eyes for a long while. His own eyes narrowed and he shook his head. "What did you _do_?"

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><p>Please review, and if you have any suggestions for future chapters, please do tell. x3 I always love reading what people want in a story, and I take everything into consideration. (:<p> 


	4. Parasitic

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>Please give me more reviews. 3 They really do make my day, and the more I got, the more likely I am to continue something. :3 Just feed me your suggestions and loving words, and even some criticism! I love it all.<p>

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><p>The painful realization his best friend had fallen off the wagon leading to being clean of drugs made him physically sick. He wasn't sure what to feel, whether it be absolutely rage, or perhaps if he should be a pussy about it and just break down in front of the other. Instead, he settled on silently staring at the other, as if mentally boring holes through the other's forehead would fix the entire situation. It didn't. "I don't know…" Sasuke suddenly hummed out, raising his hands back to his face. He held the palms of his hands to his eyes, and for a brief moment he wondered if the other was crying—took a split second to remember that the only time he had seen the Uchiha cry was when he was trying to get clean and begging for a place to stay… and he wondered if this was one of those times.<p>

The man was shaking and seemingly in silent agony, and Naruto wasn't quite sure what to do. If he had to be honest, he was kind of extremely fucking _angry_. And yet at the same time, he felt horribly guilty… He knew this was going to happen. He had learned that Sasuke just didn't have self-control, and yet he let the raven go along with hanging out with people like Orochimaru… God, he was a horrible person. He managed a bitter chuckle towards himself, and he smacked his hand against his forehead and slowly ran it down his face. "What are you on?" He spoke out, his tone dull, as if he had had this conversation thousands of times before. The Uchiha didn't answer at first, so Naruto asked the same question again after a short moment of silence.  
>"The fuck if I know." Sasuke suddenly blurted out, and Naruto couldn't help but flinch at his tone, he frowned.<br>"Bullshit." He was a tired, he was somewhat drunk, and Sasuke had promised him as his best friend he would stop with this stupid shit, and here he was at his apartment, high off his ass.  
>"I really don't know," Sasuke whined, a sound Naruto wasn't completely used to hearing out of him. Strange, how just this morning he had been so composed and emotionless, and here he was, shaking and moaning like a bitch on his coach. He wasn't sure he would ever entirely get used to how easily the raven could switch personalities, truthfully. "It was just weed, but it was… laced with some shit, I don't know what." Weed? That was it? Don't get him wrong, he didn't like the idea of Sasuke using any drug, but to think he would get so fucked over by weed…<p>

Regardless of his anger towards the other, he couldn't help but let his motherly instinct kick in. He squeezed Sasuke's shoulder, "Just relax." Thankfully, he had had a lot of practice in this at this point… he doubted it was something to be proud of, but he was thankful he had remembered it all in order to help him out tonight. He urged the other to stand, keeping him close to his side. He took Sasuke's arm and hooked it around his neck and began to guide him to his bedroom, away from the sound of his somewhat loud TV and where it was quiet. He set him down on the bed, and positioned him on his side, "Stay like that." He urged, hearing Sasuke mumble nonsense beneath his breath. He sighed. He turned a nearby lamp on; filling the room with a dim lighting he hoped would help relax the other. He watched him for a moment, "I'll be right back." It was really hard to keep calm and help the other come down from whatever planet he was currently on when he was angry, but he knew letting out all his rage on the raven at that moment would screw them both over.

He made his trip to the kitchen as quick as he could manage, heating up a mug of water and tossing a tea bag in it, he brought it back to a still shaking Sasuke, who seemed to still be speaking nonsense about something he couldn't quite catch beneath his breath. Naruto sat on the bedside, while Sasuke curled up somewhat into himself. Strange, how they grew up really… Naruto had always been the one mothering the other and trying him to not get to do stupid things, and Sasuke went against everything, and this was where he was now… Under rule of some drug selling, sex addicted mobster, while he was probably fucking everyone of said dangerous mobster's competition for drugs.

Okay, he didn't know if that was true or not, but like previously mentioned over and over, Naruto was _pissed_. And at the same time, he was scared, very scared for Sasuke. He had thought he was stronger than this, and yet here he was again, having Naruto help him to sit up so he could drink something that Naruto insisted would help with coming down from whatever bad trip he was experiencing, when really, it was just normal chamomile tea. It seemed to be enough to calm the male down a bit though, and Naruto watched the other through half-lidded eyes and a small frown as he lay back down, his hands seeming incapable of remaining still. "Feeling better?" Naruto asked after some time, setting the male's near-empty tea cup on the bedside table. Sasuke didn't move for some time, but slowly he raised his head up and down. Naruto was thankful for this, but his rage didn't subside. He stood up from the bed, prepared to go to the living room where he would spend his night on the couch, only to have a cold, yet moist hand slip into his own and grip at him desperately.  
>"Sleep with me." Sasuke really was an entirely new person when he was high, wasn't he? He should be used to this more… emotional side of him due to all the times he had been in his presence while he was mentally gone, but he really couldn't. He stared at the other for some time before shaking his head.<br>"I think it's better if I sleep on the couch tonight." Every time Sasuke urged him to sleep in the same bed as him when he was like this, Naruto ended up screaming into a pillow and hating himself in the morning.

But god, if there was one thing Sasuke was good at when he was high, it was pulling off puppy dog eyes. He stared at him, and within seconds melted and was ready to bend to his will. "Lemme just go shut off the TV." Naruto gave in like that, and he was soon out of the room and shutting off everything before eventually returning to his room, where he changed into a pair of boxers and sweats before he got to Sasuke's side. "Sit up," He urged, trying to help him out of his jacket and shoes. He knew better than to try and get anything else off, because that was just asking to get molested by the other. He tossed the other's belongings on to the floor, not in a happy enough mood to be careful with Sasuke's things. "Stay on your side of the bed." He urged as he crawled into bed and got on to the other end. Sasuke held true to the silent agreement for about five minutes before Naruto felt strong arms wrap around him. He would hate to admit the touch made him melt almost automatically… the man was just a master at seduction, whether he be sober, or completely gone… Naruto just couldn't resist. But he tried to keep his anger at the forefront of his mind this time around, "Sasuke, stop. Go to bed." He tried to squirm out of the other's arms, only to be held on to tighter. "Sasuke…" He breathed out, reaching up to touch his hand to his own face, grimacing into his palm.

"I'm just hugging you…" The elder of the two cooed and buried his face into the nape of the other's neck, seemingly just getting himself cuddled up to him and relaxed… Naruto knew better though. He was like a parasite, digging into his skull, further and further, burrowing his way into him until something inside him would eventually snap and he would give in and let his body become the other's entirely. It was how it worked with Kyuubi, and seemingly everyone else. He was a broken person, mentally… He got mad at Sasuke, criticized him, but truthfully he was no better. At least, Sasuke had an excuse for how he acted during these times, he had an excuse for almost everything—he was an addict, he had a problem. The only problem Naruto had was being able to keep his pants on, it seemed, and remaining in control over his own body and mind. He let himself bend to others wills so easily, and he knew this. Yet, he didn't stop.  
>Sasuke's arms remained still, coiled about Naruto's body like snakes, that threatened him with hisses and made him all the more nervous. They would strike, he was certain. Like clock work, Sasuke began to move closer, his crotch pressing against Naruto's rear, his hands wandering over the revealed flesh of Naruto's chest, enjoying the warmth the youth's body provided for the druggy. "This isn't just hugging, Sasuke." Naruto shuddered and carefully lifted one of the other's hands, attempting to remove it, only to end up with his fingers laced through the others and held within Sasuke's grip. He blinked, and his face turned a furious shade of red. "I'm serious Sasuke, tonight is not the night." Was it? Had he not slept with Kyuubi the night before, in this same bed, and been lectured about his sexual habits and mental instability with Ino earlier, he would probably be all for it- all for allowing the male before him, high as a kite, to take advantage of his body. But his pillow smelled strongly of his bosses collogne, mixed in with the scent of cigarettes and stale booze, as well as a tinge of marijuana and some other familiar scent that came from the male clinging to his back. The combination of sickly scents made his stomach churn, and it reminded him of how easily he allowed himself to be used and abused and repeated over and over again. Sasuke was his friend, but when he was like this he was no better than Kyuubi... And well, Kyuubi was Kyuubi, the man was a horror all on his own and didn't need the help of drugs or alcohol to make Naruto melt, and remind him why he hated himself so much.<p>

He was ripped from his inner turmoil, a hand having long since slipped down his pants, prodding at the flaccid member held beneath thin boxers. Naruto was appalled with himself, that even after all those thoughts he had leaned into the touch almost greedily, sucking in the warmth of Sasuke's hand and managing a soft gasp as he felt his body heat up, goose flesh rising all about his skin. And then, Sasuke's lips grazed the back of his neck, and for a split moment, Naruto wasn't certain whether Kyuubi was behind him, or Sasuke... The mixture of scents and the rapid spinning of his own head made him ill, and without much thought he elbowed Sasuke in the gut, and shortly after hearing a pained groan and a curse, he shot out of his own bed and made a run for the bathroom, where he slipped in and locked the door behind him with a harsh slam.

Back to the door, he let himself slide to the floor and breath loudly, in and out. He brought his knees to his chest and slowly lowered his head between them as a wave of nausea passed over him. "Breath..." He told himself, squeezing his eyes shut. He ran his hands through his hair, tightly gripping the strands, and tearing a few out along the way from the overwhelming feeling of frustration and self-hatred that infiltrated his body. "Fuck..." He hissed and slammed his head back against the door with one swift movement, a loud thud echoing through out the over sized bathroom.  
>"Naruto...?" Sasuke had long since calmed down from his horrible high, and was faced with the scary realization that something seemed to have snapped inside the head of the pretty little blonde friend of his. He was dizzy himself, feeling light headed and still not all in his right mind. He was horny, and hot, and by the time he recovered from the hit to his stomach, he had found himself alone in a familiar bed, that smelled strongly of the blonde, as well as all that was wrong with the world. It smelled of poison, and perhaps it was what sucked him into it so much. He grabbed a nearby pillow, ignoring the tightness of his pants for a moment to hug the soft thing to his chest and momentarily cling to it. So broken, he thought to himself through a sigh... It wasn't long before he really began to realize that Naruto had actually hit him and run off. Where had he gone? He heard a slam of a door, and a lot of fumbling and banging, but... Where? Where? Sasuke rose into a sitting position, the pillow sitting atop his lap as he looked this way and that, until he spotted a stream of light. It came from beneath the closed bathroom door a good way across from where he sat in the room, and he tilted his head to the side. "Naruto?" He called out again, realizing at that moment how raspy and horrid his own voice sounded.<p>

He was a bad friend, a very bad friend. The scary moment of realization settled in, and it didn't take much longer to figure out that he needed to sober up. He needed to fix himself, so he could apologize for whatever he had done, to set himself his straight... But he knew he wasn't going to do that. He reached over, grabbing the tea cup that Naruto had left out for him. It was near empty, but there was enough to ease the pain within his throat and he let out a satisfied groan after sitting it back down. "Naruto?" He called out louder, watching as the shadows shifted within the stream of light that came from beneath that door. He watched it, semi-entertained by how the darkness danced about within that rectangle of light, that swept across the dark crimson rug. He scooted to the end of the bed, losing himself to his drug-ridden mind, reaching out to see if he could touch the light and shadow mixture only to find it didn't work that way. He had himself leaned over the bed, his fingers caressing the soft rug, surely ridden with cigarette ashes, spilled alcohol and possibly even sex, attempting to lift the shadow of Naruto's body from the floor, only to fail. He frowned, a child-like frown, and got up from the bed. He wobbled a bit, and after straightening himself out, began to shuffle across the floor to the bathroom, where he grabbed the knob and jiggled it to find himself incapable of getting out. He turned his back to the door, and slid to the floor, hugging his knees to his chest. "Naruto?" He fought the drugs in his system, trying to regain himself. He frowned, having seemed to found out just how he was behaving... "I'm sorry, okay?" He said shortly after clearing his throat, nibbling painfully upon his bottom lip, to the point where he drew blood and the bitter, metallic taste coated his tongue. What tore through him, and hit a chord was hearing a sob from behind the door. He turned, pressing his ear to the wood and listened, to hear more heart-wrenching sobs. The saddest thing of all? He wouldn't remember it in the morning.

Sasuke woke up, curled up on the floor right outside the still closed bathroom door. It was brighter now, painfully so, and he found himself reaching up and covering his face with his forearm. "Fuck me..." He hissed aloud, slowly beginning to inch himself along the rug like a worm of some sort to where the window resided. Hiding from the light the entire way, once hitting the wall, he reached up blindly until he found his fingers touching string. He tugged it violently and angrily, hearing the curtains slam down hard against the window sill, and the room was once again hidden away beneath a blanket of darkness, and Sasuke allowed his eyes to open and adjust. This wasn't his apartment, and for a moment he had to figure out where he was until it settled in. Naruto's apartment. He turned, eying the only light within the room, that came from beneath the bathroom door. He could hear loud snoring from behind that door, and Sasuke immediately began to question his night. Oh, he knew where it had started, at least.  
>Karin had taken him back to his apartment, the woman was aware of his weaknesses, and for whatever reason, Sasuke had been under the impression she understood his need to change himself for the sake of his job and his friends. She had been for a long time, seemingly... She went about her horrid ways, and Sasuke had done his best to resist the idea to join her the entire time. Only this time hadn't been the same, and he wasn't sure why... It was just like any other day, but being under the influence had seen like such a wondrous idea yesterday, for whatever reason.<br>They had had lunch together, the woman questioned his relationship status with Sakura, and they spoke for a long time over a couple of poorly made sandwiches and beers. Maybe that had been it - it was easier to agree when he was buzzed, perhaps. She had went off to the bathroom, and Sasuke had know it wasn't because she wished to actually use the toilet. She returned moments later, wiping the underside of her nose with the back of her hand, looking slightly out of it, with a grin the Cheshire Cat would envy. Maybe that had been the allure. She looked so happy. And he felt so... unhappy.

Yet, he hadn't done it then. Hell, he hadn't done anything along the lines of coke! Karin and him had left her apartment from there, and it was when they reached the club that they had met up with Kakashi, and his little bitch, Kabuto. The pair never seemed to be separated, and the snake had seemingly such an eye for pretty little boys, it made Sasuke's stomach churn. And yet, he still found himself allowing to be clung to. He hadn't taken any kind of drugs from the man in months, but having him at his side, just knowing that there was always him to fall back on should that little string in his mind snap? It was oddly comforting. Never had he thought he would go along with it though.  
>After pointless straying within the cramped club with all too loud music, Sasuke had found himself in the alley way just outside, his eyes stinging from exhaustion, and his clothes smelling strongly of alcohol and smoke. He felt oddly disgusted, and wanted nothing more than to go home, but what had stopped him?<p>

Sasuke did his best to recall, as he stood up from his place on the floor and held his hand to his head. The room spun about him and he grimaced and did his best to steady himself before he began to walk. He headed first to the bathroom, where he tested the door knob. _Locked._ He frowned and shook his head, knowing he had fucked something up. He shook himself at himself, and parted from the room to the kitchen, where he retrieved a cup of water for himself. Orochimaru, he thought with another shake of his head, his shoulders slumping a bit. He had followed him out of the club, Kabuto following him like the lost little puppy he was. There had been a lot of pointless chatter and laughter, accompanied shortly after by a drunken and high Karin, who couldn't seem to keep herself from falling with every step until eventually she had just slammed face first into Sasuke's chest and held herself there. Truth be told, Sasuke was in no mood for her antics, but he hadn't pushed her away, if only because he didn't wish to see her crack her skull open against the concrete beneath them. Okay, he kind of did, but he wasn't in the mood to deal with the repercussions.  
>Orochimaru had been standing across from him, his snake-like eyes mentally tearing his clothing off and making Sasuke shudder. There was a lot of questioning on why he had stopped using, a conversation they had shared several times and the answers were always the same. He was out of control. Naruto would be upset. His boss would, quite literally, kill him. He would lose his life. And the short high was not worth the troubles he faced the morning after. Orochimaru had laughed at him, as he always did, going on about how he would have had a much better life working underneath him opposed to Kyuubi. Another conversation they had had over a million times, and Sasuke had simply scoffed at and rolled his eyes, ignoring just how true it might be. He knew it wasn't for good reason though... The only way it would make him happier, is if the man could provide him with a constant source of cheap drugs, and keep him high all the time. Too high to care for the fact he had thrown away a perfectly good life for Orochimaru of all people... He was stupid, but not<em> that<em>stupid.  
>Orochimaru had pulled out a tiny baggy, containing a weed of sorts. He wasn't a stranger to marijuana, but truthfully, it seemed kind of light when compared to the stuff Orochimaru usually sold. He had questioned the snake about it, and... somewhere along the way, he had been offered some. At first he had denied... but Orochimaru had a way of manipulating people, and the man reassured him it was nothing to be concerned about, and it wouldn't be anywhere near as strong as something like coke or heroin... And for some reason, that had managed to coax Sasuke into the idea of just taking a couple of hits.<p>

Sasuke reached up and held his hand to his head and shook it angrily. He remembered now. Orochimaru had laced it with _something. _What, he wasn't sure, but it was something strong, and from there the man had tried to take advantage of him. Somehow, they had gotten to the man's home, and a lot of clothing had been shed and there was a lot of movement... And Sasuke remembered getting angry. _Really angry._ He had gotten up and left the snake to finish himself off, and dressed himself along the way back to Naruto's apartment, which thankfully hadn't been far at all. He had been running on auto pilot the entire time, his body guiding him in the appropriate direction to the only person whom could help him... It was around there his memory began to resemble Swiss cheese. He remembered sitting on Naruto's couch, he remembered the taste of tea that Naruto had given to him, he remembered the feeling the blonde, all warm and snuggled up to him... or was he the one snuggled up to the other? He figured the later, since he doubted Naruto had been pleased with him.  
>The raven sighed, and readied another mug with water, which he quickly heated up in the microwave before getting out the instant coffee mix from the blonde's cabinet. He prepared a cup, extra sweet, just the way Naruto liked it, with a bit of milk. He took it back to the male's room, and turned to the bathroom door. He set it carefully down on the floor and got on to his knees, reaching into his own pocket where he retrieved a couple of conveniently brought along lock picks- he was now thankful he hadn't changed out of his work clothing before going off with Karin. He worked his magic with the knob and soon found the door swinging open, and a blonde falling to the floor, sound asleep, in front of him. He stared at him, brows furrowed. He sighed, and rolled his eyes.<br>"Naruto." He said, nudging the other's shoulder with his palm.

The male grumbled and curled into himself further. The raven sighed, and he picked up the coffee and set it in front of Naruto's face, watching, half-amused, as the other's nose began to twitch, the sickeningly sweet scent of his beloved coffee stirring him from his sleep. Sasuke never understood how he could drink coffee so sweet, but he would be lying if he said it didn't fit his personality perfectly.  
>It was around then that he heard a phone vibrating. After checking his own pocket to find it wasn't his phone, he looked back to the bedside table, where Naruto's phone lay, bouncing atop the surface and slowly making its way to the edge. He sighed, and left the waking blonde's side and went to take the phone. Without much thought, he opened it and brought it to his ear, "Naruto's sick, it's Sasuke." It was a business phone, and whomever was calling either knew the both of them, or was out of their fucking minds. "What the fuck do you want?" Sasuke wasn't in the mood to play phone-games, regardless it wasn't exactly his phone. He was just feeling oddly bitter, mostly towards himself, funnily enough.<p>

"Sasuke, hm~?" The voice that cooed to him from the other line made him physically ill, and he fell back down against the bed with a sigh, turning and watching as Naruto awoke groggily, eying the cup of coffee in front of his face as if it were an alien from another planet. He couldn't help but smirk at the sight. "Naruto is sick? Sick with what, exactly? Or... should I say, _of_ what?" The man had a habit of getting underneath his skin in the most sickening sense, and Sasuke couldn't help but shudder from the simple sound of his voice, "Where were you last night, Sasuke? I actually intended on calling you shortly after this... but since apparently your now Naruto's personal receptionist, I suppose there's no better time then now." The Uchiha wet his dried lips, his free hand straying to the bed beneath him, curling his fingers angrily into the sheets.  
>"Naruto has a cold, I just don't feel like waking him." He turned, and locked eyes with the blonde who was now sitting up, half way in the bathroom, half way out, with his legs crossed and a mug held in his hand. He looked angry and confused, with his sleepy eyes narrowed at him- and yet, he didn't move to stop him from talking to whomever he was on his phone, even as he lied. "And I was with Karin last night, at a club." It wasn't a lie, not entirely anyways, but Kyuubi's sigh was a sign he wasn't pleased with the answer.<br>"Oh? And did you see Orochimaru somewhere along the way?" Sasuke sighed and looked off to the side, avoiding Naruto's gaze.  
>"And if I did?"<br>"There will be punishment, of course." The man on the other end laughed, a sickeningly melodic laugh, that made people like Naruto turn to jello.  
>"Then I didn't." Sasuke said, managing a bitter smirk. The laugh on the other end continued,<br>"Good answer, Sasuke. I expect you in my office in two hours." The time he was given was rather generous, since he usually gave him a ten minute time limit to show up- though he figured it was because he knew there was a small chance that he was perhaps taking care of his precious Naruto.  
>"Will do." Sasuke hung up Naruto's phone and set it off to the side, looking to the blonde who sat there still, his eyes remaining locked on him, still narrowed.<p>

"You look tired..." Naruto said after a short while, being the first to break the increasingly awkward silence between the pair. Sasuke licked his lips, and looked away for a moment. "Are you feeling better?" Sasuke shrugged his shoulders at the question, and stood up from his place on the bed, beginning to gather the clothing shed from him last night into his arms. "You should... stay home," Naruto quietly squeaked out the suggestion, "Catch up on sleep or... something..." He trailed off, and Sasuke turned to eye him. The idea was a pleasant one, one he craved, but he knew that a break from work was not going to be happening today.  
>"I would... but Kyuubi wants me in in two hours," He explained softly, looking Naruto over, "I told him you were sick though... I think you're good to stay home if you want..." Naruto perked up a bit at the fact, and he couldn't help but now how childishly adorable the small smile he sparked was. They were hardly a year apart age wise, but he couldn't help but feel as if Naruto was so much younger, so much more innocent. He knew it to be bullshit, though... It was simply Naruto's outward appearance- and maybe if he didn't look like such a fucking angel, he wouldn't get screwed over as much as he did. But that was a conversation for another day.<br>"Mind if I use your shower?" Sasuke asked after another stretch of silence, and Naruto took this as his cue to stand up from his place on the floor, coffee cup in hand. He stepped aside, and gestured with his free hand for Sasuke to go ahead inside, mumbling a soft 'thank you for the coffee', just as the raven passed, and closed the door behind him.  
>Unlike Sasuke, Naruto remembered everything in full detail. And yet, he couldn't find it in him to bring it up and start something over it... He just wanted to forget about it truthfully, and it was what he intended on doing, as he crawled into bed and got comfortable underneath the blankets.<p>

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><p>Sasuke had long since left Naruto's apartment, and was unwillingly dragging himself down the hall of the top floor of the over-sized building that went continuously missed by cops it seemed. The large door at the end taunted him as he slowly approached it, taking his time and ignoring all those whom he passed along his way until eventually, there was nowhere left to walk. He rose his hand to the door, and with two knocks, he let himself inside to a surprisingly not empty room. Only this time, and he was thankful for it of course, he wasn't welcomed to Kyuubi having sex with some stranger... No. He sat in his chair, his hands folded over his chest, his fingers laced with one another and all too smug look upon his face. He shifted his gaze from that man, to the one who stood directly beside him, his hands folded behind his back, and semi-long, jet-black hair, tied neatly back into a pony tail. With eyes as dark as night, and deep bags circling them, Sasuke was suddenly curious as to who the new addition was to their already over sized business. "Hello, Sasuke." Kyuubi practically sang out, spinning about in his chair like a child on some kind of sugar high. He found himself glaring at the man, "This here, is Itachi." The man stared at him still, and the look he was given startled the younger raven, and had him taking a nervous step back.<br>"And?" Sasuke raised a brow, watching as Kyuubi stopped his childish spinning and halted to face the the youth before him.  
>"Itachi is from a special department of... well, let's just say they're special for right now." The man laughed, and the being known as Itachi even managed as smirk, and it really unsettled Sasuke, if only because he had a feeling what this guy was special for. "Please trust me when I say, that if I hear any more talk of Orochimaru... I'll be sure your punishment is extensive. And since I'm getting out of the habit of being directly violent..." He smiled an all too innocent smile, before his gaze slowly wandered over to the man beside him, who's eyes hadn't once left Sasuke. Truthfully, that gaze was beginning to freak him out, "Well, let's just say, you'll know pain."<p>

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><p>Review, review, review! x3<p> 


	5. Triggered

Thank you for the support. 3

Review please. It makes my day. And also encourages me to continue! Just take two seconds out to type up something and I'll be super happy. 8D

Enjoy!

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><p>Sasuke was gnawing on his bottom lip, silently tearing apart the flesh and bleeding into his own mouth, blind to this fact until Ino showed up at his office and came right up to his desk without even a knock. She stared at the seemingly oblivious raven, realizing he seemed to be lost in some kind of mental breakdown of his own, which she quickly put to an end by leaning over and slamming her fist down hard on the desk, shaking the contents that rest atop of it. Sasuke flinched and fell back against his seat, raising his eyes to the blonde and arching a brow. "You're lips bleeding." She quickly said, rolling her eyes. When she had first showed up here, she hadn't been aware of Sasuke's inner turmoil, and had found him so attractive. She had spent day and night following him like some kind of lost puppy, trying her hardest to collect whatever kind of love and attention she could from him. He appeared so strong and stable, but when rumors went around about him… her views of him faltered… Not enough at the time to stop her completely, but when Sasuke disappeared and the rumors confirmed, she realized it wasn't worth it. Sasuke was a good person, deep down… but getting attached to someone like him was asking for daily heartache. It was why she felt so horrible for Naruto every time she saw him walking around by himself.<p>

"Where's Naruto, hon?" She folded her arms over her breast, and her head fell to the side, eying the Uchiha suspiciously. Sasuke didn't deserve someone like Naruto in his life, she had come to that conclusion a while after Sasuke had returned to work just a year or two back. He needed to get his shit together, that was for damned sure. Naruto had become more and more like a brother to her, and she was getting pretty sick of seeing that lonely, tossed-to-the-side look in his eyes.  
>"He was sick, he's staying home today." Sasuke answered calmly, as he took a tissue from the box on his desk and wiped at his torn lip, sopping up the blood until it was all gone and done with. He trashed the dirtied wad of tissues and looked to Ino, who had her eyes narrowed at him, as if he had done something wrong to her. He hadn't, not to his knowledge anyways.<br>"You look awful," _Thanks, you raging bitch_, he thought bitterly, narrowing his black eyes and shaking his head. "What were you on last night?" Was it just that obvious? Or was Ino just taking a shot in the dark here. "Don't bullshit me, you always have this look of self-loathing – which is well deserved, by the way – and you walk around like death." Sasuke had wanted to make a point to tell her he was never exactly the most talkative, but she seemed to know better than he. Did other people see him the same as her?  
>"It's nothi-"<br>"You pissed him off, huh?" Who off? Kyuubi? Naruto? The whole fucking world? Sasuke held his head in his hand, and grumbled a curse beneath his breath.  
>"Probably, assuming we're thinking of the some person." People, even.<br>"People." Great, a raging bitch, _and_ a fucking mind reader. She was just the right person to be around today, wasn't she?  
>"What the fuck do you want, Ino?" He finally blurted out, having long since begun rubbing the index fingers of both hands into his temples, as if doing so would keep him from exploding. He wasn't entirely convinced.<br>"I just wanted to know where Naruto was, and since you seem to have the habit of dragging him through the mud and back on a daily basis, I figured you'd know whe-"  
>"Oh cut the motherly, sisterly, or whatever the fuck you think you are to him act. He's fine. He's home. He's asleep. You wanna see him? Go fuckin' visit him." That was possibly the longest list of words that had left the Uchiha's mouth in a long time, at least in Ino's knowledge… They never had conversations, and for good reason. Ino had long since gotten over her childish crush on the male, and the appearance of perfection the man once held over him had shattered and she was welcomed to the sight of nothing more than a dirty, drugged up slut, who had more problems than she could list on both hands.<br>"Pathetic, fuckin' dick…" She grumbled as she turned on her heel and headed for the door,  
>"Pathetic, lonely twat." He called back after her, his stress and frustration all blowing up within the back of his mind, just as Ino slammed the door shut loudly behind him, surely hoping it wouldn't help his growing headache.<p>

He sucked in a deep breath and let himself fall back into his chair, trying to figure… What was he trying to figure out? Himself, probably. He closed his eyes, thinking briefly of the newly introduced Itachi, a name he had never once heard before, and a face he felt as though he had seen a thousand times. He didn't think that Kyuubi would ever go so far as to send someone after to kill him, cut off a few fingers, maybe, but kill him? He thought on this for a moment, wondering if this was another empty threat. He lowered his head to his desk, finding himself sucking his bottom lip back into his mouth, prodding at the slit he had created previously with his tongue and grimaced at the bitter taste that came along with it.  
>Then, there was Naruto to think of, and as much as he hated to give the credit to her, Ino was a bit of a wakeup call when it came to the blonde. Did he really drag Naruto through the mud? He closed his eyes, and for a short while hoped to disappear.<p>

There was a soft, cautious knock at his door, and he raised his head to find another woman stepping into his office, a nervous look in her pale eyes, and her cheeks a light shade of red. He felt as though she would burst at any moment, but refrained from commenting on her composure. "Sasuke?" Her voices was soft, and seemingly never-endingly fearful, regardless of the situation she was in. This business just didn't seem like the type for her, so it made sense she was just a simple receptionist.  
>She had a stack of papers she held to her chest, as she took another step into the room, "I heard a lot of yelling," She said, avoiding eye contact. Her history with Sasuke was… well, non-existent. All she had to go by were some conversations with her blonde-haired crush, and horrible rumors. Of course, she had spoken to him before, when he would often ask her whether Kyuubi was in a meeting or not, or anything along those lines… but… Other than simply hearing of his drug problems, and listening to how highly Naruto thought of him… She didn't have much to go on. "I… just wanted to know… if you were um, alright?" Didn't mean she hated him though. She refused to think all rumors were true, and sure, she wasn't stupid—she knew Naruto wasn't all that innocent either! She would rather hear it from both their mouths opposed to listening to nosy cohorts, though… It wasn't her business after all to know these two boys' personal lives, right?<p>

Sasuke stared at her for a long time, his eyes enough to cripple her, should she dare lock on to them. How Naruto handled those searing, black orbs amazed her. He seemed confused, at first, but after a couple of seconds of silence, followed by a sigh of defeat, Sasuke shook his head. "I'm fine, Hinata." He said, and the girl seemed almost shocked she got a response out of him. She breathed, as though she had been holding her breath all that time while waiting for him to answer.  
>"Um… Do… Do you know where Naruto is?" She squeaked out quickly, making it hard for Sasuke to remain angry when someone so seemingly innocent was inside his office.<br>"He's… He was tired, so I told him to stay home." She nodded her head, seeming to be pleased with his answer. He licked his lips and looked the woman over before sighing, "Ah, is that all?" He asked, his tone a bit more angered than he would have liked for it to be. She flinched noticeably at the sound of his voice and took a step back, shaking her head.  
>"I was just… checking up." She was a sweet girl, and so he supposed it was a good thing his tone scared her off. He didn't want to poison another innocent person.<p>

The week went on rather normally past that day, aside from some awkwardness between him and Sasuke, Naruto couldn't complain too much. Sure, it wasn't a wonderful series of days, the painful knowledge that Sasuke had broken still hung on to him, and he was reminded every day when he saw the raven… but he knew he would have to get over it. It was just another bump in the road. And hopefully, there wouldn't be another like it for a while… Naruto needed a break from this bumpy path.  
>"Naruto… hey…" He had been walking to work, opposed to stealing a ride from another person. He had his own car, but driving in the city was asking for a headache, and well… a walk would do him good, help clear his head, he felt. A cigarette, lit and hanging from his lips, was sucked in thoughtfully as he turned to look over his shoulder, his eyes meeting with the mistmatched ones of an old friend.<p>

The man whom approached him was a good amount older than him, his eyes brown, the right dark, while the left was noticeably much brighter. His hair was nearly white, and it had been for as long as he could have remembered—he wasn't that old, maybe earlier forties at best, he never really asked, but surely no man's hair should be _that_ shade of white at that age. Plus, his hair wasn't thinning! It was just… spiky, and wild, and well, _white._ Even to this day, he never got over it. But his hair wasn't what bothered him this time around, it was the police uniform he wore so proudly. He had been around during Naruto's time in the orphanage, a close friend to the owners who had helped raise him and Sasuke… And well, he hadn't seen him for a couple of years, not until he conveniently reached the age of eighteen, and he couldn't be forced to return to that place. He had been so persistent, on finding out where he had gone, what he was doing, how he was surviving… Of course, he couldn't tell him. He simply said he was fine, and he brushed it off to the best of his ability. "Naruto," He called out again, quickly catching up to the blonde's side. "Smoking now, are we?" The elder of the two reached up and snatched the half-smoke cigarette from Naruto's lips, and with a soft 'tsking' sound, he dropped it on to the ground and stomped it out beneath his boot. Naruto couldn't help but smirk, before It grew into a full blown smile.

"It's been a while, Kakashi~." He hummed out, and nudged the older male with his elbow before continuing on his way. The man perked up and nodded his head.  
>"How've you been, kid?" There was a hand atop his head, messing up already messy locks of blonde hair, "I feel like I haven't seen you in a couple of months."<br>"That's 'cause it has been a couple of months." Naruto said, rolling his eyes. He removed Kakashi's hand from the top of his head and set it to the other's side before he returned his hand to his head, trying to comb his fingers through the mess. "I'm been good though. Tired, mostly." He yawned, as though his body just caught its cue and decided to give Kakashi proof of his never-ending exhaustion.  
>"Exhausted huh?" The man was looking closely at the blonde, and not at his face, but the outfit he wore, and he looked him over curiously for some time before meeting the blonde's confused, blue eyes. "Looks like you've come into a bit of a fortune, huh?" He tugged at Naruto's tie, and immediately the blonde began to sweat at the thought of being questioned by an old friend. Kakashi must have noticed the sudden overwhelming wave of nervousness that washed over him in a second, as he cocked a brow at him and narrowed his eyes. He parted his lips to speak, and surely question where said fortune had come from, but was cut off by the sound of Naruto's name being called out. He turned his head, and faced another blonde, who came running at him from just down the block, her pony tail waving behind her. This woman was a god-send. "That a friend of yours?" Kakashi asked, not missing her outfit as well. All seemingly high-class-business-esque. Naruto had no high school education and definitely nothing beyond that either… Not to say he expected to find the kid in the gutter (though he wouldn't have been surprised), he just didn't expect to see him wearing such… expensive clothing.<br>"How's Sasuke?" He asked, with what time he had left before the woman finally reached them. Naruto locked eyes with him, and he wondered if in that second, Kakashi could already tell that the words that were about to come out of his mouth were a lie, before he even spoke them.  
>"Fine." He said, and Kakashi gave him a thoughtful look before nodding his head.<br>"You two should come seem me. Tell him I'll pay for dinner if he's willing to come along." He managed a smile, and looked to the woman as she stopped in front of them both. He nodded his head at her, said his goodbyes, and was soon enough walking off, leaving the pair of blondes to nervously stare after him.

"Who was that?" Ino asked once the man seemed out of ear-shot. She looked appalled and slightly worried just by the sight of a uniformed man whom she didn't know. Naruto understood though, it was natural for any of them to fear the sight of cops. He smiled, however, and rested a hand on her shoulder.  
>"An old friend," He answered, shaking his head, "He helped take care of me and Sasuke when we were little." The name of his best friend seemed to anger Ino noticeably, but only for a second before she cut off her bad attitude and looked over the white-haired man, who was soon turning a corner and disappearing from sight.<br>"Handsome." She decided to comment, licking her lips and giggling. She folded her arms over her chest and rested her weight on her left leg, "I'd go afte-"  
>"I <em>really<em> don't wanna picture you with that man. _Please." _ This made Ino laugh, and quickly nod her head, holding her hands up.  
>"Fine, fine."<br>Besides, he had already seen that man in enough scarring situations. Sadly, for a police officer, he had made his fair share of mistakes in the past. Big mistakes.

Instead of going straight to work that afternoon, they instead left to get lunch. Ino claimed she would take the blame should Kyuubi get mad, which was fine by him. He didn't honestly think he would get too pissed anyways, he hated to admit it… but sleeping with the boss _did_ have its benefits. "I heard something really awful, the other day…" Ino hummed out between bites of food, shuffling what remained on her plate around with the fork, looking around for the waiter she had earlier claimed to be extremely handsome. "You know the Akatsuki?" Naruto tensed, and grimaced, but nodded his head. The Akatsuki were a group of specialists… They were all good friends with Kyuubi, seemingly, always available to complete a job should he so wish it. It wasn't often he called upon them, mainly because it wasn't often he would need such talented hands. Everyone that worked under him had a basic set of skills, all knowing how to lift, point, and shoot a gun. That was all that was usually needed… but the Akatsuki were a good ten steps above all of them when it came to murder, he knew that much. "I heard, Kyuubi's bringing them in again…" She sounded a bit worried, and Naruto didn't blame her. They were all ruthless bastards, with no hearts in Naruto's eyes. Not one of them seemed to have light in their eyes, as far as Naruto could tell.  
>"You know why?" He asked, as he cut off a piece of chicken and brought it to his lips, "You think… it has anything to do with Orochimaru?" Naruto mumbled before stuffing the food into his mouth, watching as Ino seemed to contemplate his thought.<br>"Possibly… Kyuubi's been real pissed about that guy lately." She grumbled, "I mean, that creepy bastard just keeps fuckin' with us. I don't blame him for getting kind of pissy… but this seems like a war waiting to happen." And a war was not something any of them needed, really. Naruto nodded his head, and continued to eat in silence for a couple of moments more, but Ino seemed to have something on her mind. She would keep staring at him, seeming unsure of whether to speak or not, until eventually Naruto locked stares with her, and furrowed his brows.  
>"… Um… I heard that Sasuke's got some eyes on him." She blurted out quickly, making Naruto tense for a moment, before giving her a look of confusion.<br>"What do you mean by that?" He set his fork down and swallowed what was ever in his mouth, gulping down a bit of soda to chase it all down.  
>"Well, I was just… kind of listening in the other day, and I overheard Kyuubi talking to this man…" She shrugged, "I have to assume he's a part of the Akatsuki… He's just… Well, he looks the part. Really dark and intimidating lookin', y'know?" She slumped back a bit in her seat, "And for a while they were just talking about Sasuke's schedule, and Kyuubi was just basically telling the guy where he lived, where he should be at this time and that, it was really weird, and then he started mentioning y'know… his… ah, mishap last week." Naruto looked away, but Ino had caught a glimpse of the pain in his eyes before he could manage to hide it entirely, "I just think you should kind of…" She grumbled a curse beneath her breath, clearly fighting with her upcoming suggestion. She hated Sasuke, but she loved Naruto, and… well, she knew how to make him happy, "Just, keep an eye on him? Maybe get Sasuke to stay with you for a while until… y'know… Kyuubi calms down?" Naruto seemed lost in thought, and Ino didn't push him to speak. She finished up her lunch and waved down the nearby waiter for a check she intended on paying for.<p>

"Yeah, I'll do that…" He finally announced, managing a tiny smile, "Thanks… for telling me."

"I ran into Kakashi today…" Naruto mumbled, having mustered up the courage to pick up a phone and dial Sasuke's number. He had been on awkward terms with him for the past week, and well, since his earlier conversation with Ino, he had a feeling it would be best to put it aside and at least start a friendly conversation.  
>"Oh?" Sasuke sounded mildly-interested, but not enough so to thoroughly show it over the phone. Naruto nodded to himself,<br>"Yeah, I wants to see us. Take us out to dinner, I guess." Naruto quickly added on, shrugging his shoulders. He checked the time to be around eight, thankful for having gotten off work earlier today. He loved when he didn't have to do much on some days, it was truly a nice break from the rest. "I mean, I could call him now and see if he wants to set something u-"  
>"You really think it's safe going out to a dinner with a cop? Not to mention we didn't have the <em>best<em> of history with him." Sasuke didn't sound all that angered by the idea, but more just neutral. Naruto sighed, and shrugged his shoulders.  
>"Well, he's a cop now, so he can't be all that bad now… And I don't think we make it that obvious we're criminals, Sasuke. We'll just… dress down a bit, but, you know, appropriately." Naruto shrugged and rolled his eyes at himself as he fell back on to his couch. He could hear Sasuke grumbling under his breath on the other line, and it had Naruto sinking back into his couch and shying away from the conversation all together. Naruto pouted to himself.<br>"I'll call him. I still have his number." That somewhat worried him, but he let the other continue, "I'll set something up for… this weekend." He could almost hear the other shrugging his shoulders at him, "I'll call you back in an hour, later."  
>"Oh, wait, Sasu-" <em>Click<em>. "Asshole." He huffed and shut his phone, throwing it to the side of the couch and letting his body go limp amongst his cushions. A nap. A nap was what he needed.

_Naruto could hear strange noises down the hall, he closed his eyes shut tight, and pulled the pillow over his head and buried himself into it. Bang, bang, bang, thump, thump, thump. He huffed, and threw the pillow into the air, only to have it fall right back on to his face. He squirmed a bit before tossing it off, sitting up abruptly and looking this way and that. The room was cold, and dirty, and lacking much other than his bed, and a table to his right. The orphanage wasn't exactly rich, it really just two people, who decided they didn't like the idea of having kids out in the world on their own without any help… The money was tight, but they did what they could with what they got, so Naruto couldn't complain. It wasn't like he had had any place better to go at the time, it was a good year before he had met Kyuubi, and they were just beginning to grow tired of their surroundings… Especially Naruto, who's room remained next to Sasuke's, and all he could hear was the same old thumping every other night. He smacked his fist against the wall, and heard some hushed murmurs. It was the first he had heard of another's voice in that room, and it didn't sound much like Sasuke's. "Hm…?"_

_He pressed his ear to the wall, and narrowed his eyes. He couldn't hear much, but he heard soft, whispered words. Two people. There were two people. Was Sasuke sharing his room with Choji again? He listened closer, but it was quiet after that. Very quiet. And then the same thumping persisted. He huffed, and with one final slam to that wall, he got out of his bed and headed for the door. It was frowned upon, to walk the halls so late at night, but he wanted Sasuke to shut the_ fuck_ up. He needed sleep! But, first, he stopped at his friend's door, leaning in close and pressing his ear to it. He heard a lot of fumbling now, not a lot of thumping, just movement. He knocked on the door gently, and almost a second later it came swinging open. He raised his head and looked upward, locking eyes with those mismatched orbs of one of their helpers. He stared at him, long and hard, furrowing his brows. He was red in the face, s sheen of sweat swept over his forehead and his white hair more disheveled than normal. "Sensei…" He hummed quietly, narrowing his eyes a bit, "What are yo-"  
>"Go to bed Naruto," The man hushed him and walked past, seeming to force a smile before he rushed off down the hall, shrugging his coat on over his torso. Naruto stared after him, lost for a couple of moments until he took a step into the room and watched Sasuke as he picked his shirt up off the floor.<br>"Sasuke." He said his name quietly, tilting his head to the side. The raven looked up, narrowing his eyes at bit at the intruder of his bedroom. "What was… Kakashi doing in here?"  
>"Nothing, he was just checking up on me." He quickly said defensively, making Naruto frown and began to step back towards the door.<br>"Oh…" Naruto looked down, "I just… It was… I couldn't sleep… Ahm…" He didn't want to admit to himself he knew exactly what had happened, so he had quickly retreated to his room and jumped into bed, never really managing to sleep._

Naruto awoke somewhat abruptly, his eyes locking on to the ceiling above him, a sickened feeling in the pit of his stomach. A nap was in fact, something he didn't need. Looking at the time, he noted he had only been out for an hour, and he retrieved his phone to check for missed calls. "Oh, asshole decided to call…" Naruto hummed quietly to himself, raking his free hand through his hair, and using the other to press the call button. He had almost forgotten why Kakashi still set him on edge… The man was a good guy, but… it was hard to get over seeing some guy in their late twenties fucking your fifteen year old best friend. He shuddered, just purely from the fact that had only been one of the many times he had walked in on them.  
>"Yeah?" Sasuke answered, no 'hello' or anything, just that. Naruto glared.<br>"You called me, dumbass." Naruto retorted, "I fell asleep. Sorry I didn't answer." There was a sigh on the other end.  
>"It's fine, ah, I called Kakashi. He said we could set something up for this Saturday if we're free." Naruto thought for a moment, trying to forget the horrid dream he had had in order to concentrate.<br>"I don't think Kyuubi needs either of us that night…" He shrugged his shoulders to himself, "I think we're good."  
>"<em>Yay.<em>" So enthusiastic. Naruto rolled his eyes and slumped back against the couch again, licking his dried lips, "I meant to ask last time, before you so lovingly hung up on me—can you spend the night tonight?" He could almost hear the sound of confused look forming on the other's face through the sudden stretch of silence, before Sasuke decided to finally speak,  
>"<em>Why<em>?" Naruto blinked. Sasuke made it sound like he needed him to go rob a bank or something, all he wanted was to have the guy come over! Was that so bad?  
>"I… You… I haven't talked to you all week, I figured we could use some time together." Sasuke clearly was his opposite, how they were such good friends, Naruto would never know for sure. Then again, maybe they weren't after all. He frowned a bit to himself, "I just…"<br>"I'm busy." Sasuke cut him off, and immediately it set something off inside of Naruto.  
>"Busy doing what?" He quickly said, "I know for a fact Kyuubi's gonna put a bullet through your head if you go out with Orochimaru or any of them, so where the fuck are you going? I know you don't have work." There was a stretch of silence, and Naruto was ready to hang up and proceed to throw his own phone out the window from pure rage. "God dammit, Sasuke." Naruto barked, "You're so fucking selfish. Clean yourself up, it's getting old." Naruto wasn't sure where that last part had come from, but it was out before he could stop it, and like that, he closed his phone and dropped it on to the couch. "I need a drink."<p>

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><p>Review!<p>

Hope you enjoyed.

I need some ideas for the next couple of chapters, so PLEAAAASE give me some advice. All will be taken into consideration.


	6. Tension

Kind of a crappy chapter, in my opinion. Sorry about that. Realized I was taking kind of long, and rushed it in some places just to get it out. ; A; Either way, I hope you enjoy.

As always, review for more updates, and if you wanna tell me what you think I should do, what I should change, tips, or just a simple "I like it!" It makes my day. x3 And thanks to all those who reviewed and alerted and all that awesome stuff. It makes me happy.

By the way! We're... all aware of what Sasuke and Kakashi did at the orphanage? Right? ._. They had sex. Lots of it. Just clearing that up.

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><p>There was a lot of awkward tension between the two friends from there. They finished up the week and the dinner with Kakashi was rapidly approaching. Naruto truthfully wasn't feeling any better than he had that night he had hung up on him after calling him out on his bullshit. Of course, he was concerned for him, since Ino had filled him in on the possibilities of him being watched – but it was clear Sasuke just did not give a fuck. Didn't help that the man had never once approached him in an attempt to explain himself… Then again, it wasn't like they were dating. Naruto knew he shouldn't always expect so much out of the guy, but it was reaching a point that what he was doing was just… just <em>stupid. <em>Sasuke was nearing the age of 25 rather quickly, and Naruto thought it bad enough he had a record of hard drugs. Was he now going to go back to that? Maybe even die trying? It ached him to remember back to when they were remotely innocent and realize if they had just turned down Kyuubi… maybe they could still have some kind of pureness intact, but it was clear it was too late for the both of them.

"You're not gonna be in tonight?" Kyuubi asked quietly, seemingly not too interested in the conversation with Naruto at that moment. He had his glasses on, and was staring good and hard at a piece of paper in front of him, spinning a pen around his thumb skillfully. Naruto stood at his desk, his hands folded in front of him, watching him curiously.  
>"Yeah, me and… Ah… <em>Sasuke<em> are having dinner with an old friend." Kyuubi raised his head, seeming interested in how Sasuke's name had come out of the blonde boy's mouth. He narrowed his eyes and a bit of a smirk came across his face as he removed his glasses.  
>"Speaking of Sasuke," He said, "I haven't seen you two together much. Aside from your jobs together, but from there I'm fairly certain you guys just separate?" Naruto knew it was none of his business, and if there was anyone to rant to about Sasuke of all people, it shouldn't be to Kyuubi… but Naruto was about to go insane.<br>"You know him." He shrugged, "I guess he's pmsing." Kyuubi gave a dark laugh and leaned back in his chair, setting down his pen.  
>"Oh, I see." He hummed, "And… how's his little drug problem going?" Kyuubi knew as well as he, and so Naruto was a bit offended by that being brought up. He managed a bit of a glare, biting his tongue for a moment before parting his lips to speak,<br>"Fine." He wasn't sure of that answer in its entirety. But he liked to hope so. Kyuubi stared at him for an uncomfortably long time, and Naruto tried his hardest not to let his awkwardness show.  
>"I see." Kyuubi eventually said, and stood from his chair, dusting himself off, "But, Sasuke aside, how are you? I haven't been able to really be with you as of lately." Being with him didn't really mean conversation occurred, it meant sex. Lots and lots of sex. The man had a glint in his eye that worried him for a moment before he decided it wasn't anything he hadn't seen time and time again. But Naruto had other things on his mind. If Kyuubi wanted anything out of him today, he was going to have to hand over some answers,<br>"You're not gonna have Sasuke killed, are you?" Kyuubi had been a foot away from him, and had raised a hand to touch his face only to come to a complete halt at the question. They locked eyes, both men seemingly frozen as they stared each other down. Slowly, Kyuubi's hand dropped, fixing his tie on the way down before he sighed.  
>"I can't afford having people like Sa-"<br>"_You can't do that_." Naruto never really was one to call Kyuubi out on his bullshit and attempt to stand up for himself, or really anyone… but the death of his best friend, no matter how much of an asshole he was 99% of the time, was serious business! Kyuubi didn't seem pleased to have been cut off, and he narrowed his eyes dangerously at the younger, shorter boy before him,  
>"<em>Oh?" <em>He tilted his head to the side, "And why is that?" Naruto took a step back. Never had Kyuubi tried to lay a hand on him before, but right now, he looked as if he was itching to do just that. It was the thing he disliked most about working with Kyuubi, the man was unpredictable, and scary at that. Sadly, Naruto didn't have a very good answer to the other's question, nothing he could think up right away, anyways.  
>"Y-you… just can't." Naruto insisted, "Me and him are a package deal. You knew that when you brought us her-" Kyuubi groaned and rolled his eyes, shaking his head.<br>"You act like a five year old. You're an adult now, Naruto. And of all the places to be working and still trying to maintain relationships?" The man laughed, "This is certainly not the right place, sweetheart." The pet name made Naruto flinch, and he stepped back when Kyuubi walked forward. The man narrowed his eyes again, "Did you expect me to lie to you? I'm a lot of things, but a liar I am not." That was a lie right there, and Naruto knew it. The man smirked, as if reading Naruto's mind, and he reached to push his crimson hair from his face and let out a sigh of annoyance. "You haven't spoken to him seriously in days, and you're currently fretting over his life?" Naruto thought this over, but confidently, he nodded his head. Fighting or not, the guy was his best friend, he was family… He wouldn't let him be taken away so easily, that was for damned sure. "I see." The man sighed, "And what do I get by leaving a traitorous little druggy alive, anyways? I don't see much of a benefit for me…" Naruto frowned at him.

"You can't say he hasn't helped you in the past…" Naruto mumbled softly, shaking his head. "What if I can promise you he won't slack off anymore? And… if he won't see Orochimaru anymore?" Kyuubi arched a brow, "If he… stays away from that whole world?" Naruto was looking down, "And of course, you have me. I can be a benefit right?" He looked back up, offering a forced, tiny smile. "'Cause if he goes, I'm going too… I won't be able to stay…" Kyuubi seemed to consider this, and that was the most he could ask for really. They stared at each other for a long time, before Kyuubi stepped forward, reaching out for the blonde again. Naruto didn't even so much as flinch this time around, simply continued to watch the other, cautious of what he might say or do.  
>"I'll think about it." He told him, "I'm gonna assume this is because you figured out that I have someone watching him?" Naruto's stomach twisted up nervously, and he nodded his head.<br>"Truthfully, that man came to me first," His fingers brushed along Naruto's cheek bone, lightly tracing his scared face, before traveling down to his neck and gently pulling him closer, "He claims to know Sasuke… I told him the situation, and in exchange for a bit of money, we made a deal. He gets to be the one to watch after him, and so long as he stays in line… well, nothing bad will happen." Kyuubi licked his lips and shrugged his shoulders, and Naruto couldn't help but feel a bit angered. From the way Kyuubi had been talking earlier, he had made it seem like he had plans to kill Sasuke himself that very night!

But, he was happy at the same time. His shoulders relaxed, and Kyuubi took this as a chance to pull him in against his chest, "But that's not important right now," _Maybe not to you_, Naruto thought somewhat bitterly. But he didn't really think much of it. He knew where this was going, and he was oddly okay with it now that he had gotten all of that off his chest. He smirked bitterly, as his chin was raised, and pale lips touched his own, as always, Kyuubi's flesh felt horribly warm, and yet so smooth at the same time. He leaned into it as if it were a drug, slowly wrapping itself around him and pulling him into the depths of addiction, making it harder and harder by the second to surface. Sadly, the man had that effect on him. And with a little more time, Naruto already found himself practically crawling up the other's body, unbuttoning jackets and shirts and pants, shedding them both from as many fabrics as he could, exposing their body to the somewhat cold room they remained in. Wet mouths clumsily roamed over heated flesh, leaving hickeys and bite marks in their wake, grinding against one another as animalistic need and desire set in.

"Fuck," Kyuubi looked over Naruto's shoulder at his desk and grimaced at the sight of such clutter. Naruto imagined he must have been really eager, one hand holding Naruto up against his body, the other sweeping paper work right on the floor and clearing a space for the blonde, whom he quickly threw down without much thought. Naruto gasped from pain, but had little time to moan about it as lips smashed against his own and silenced him, traveling hands making it hard to focus in the sudden soreness in his back. Long, warm fingers fiddled with the elastic waistband of his boxers, teasingly dipping beneath it and exposing the once hidden flesh to his touch. The man chuckled sadistically, palming the throbbing erection the other was sporting. Had his own desire not been so crazy, he might have done some more to torture the poor kid, but as it were, he couldn't handle it himself for very much longer.

He stripped the other of his undergarments before he began to unbutton his own pants and push them down to his ankles before moving on to his boxers. He had to admit, the kid was cute, and it would be such an utter loss should Sasuke leave and ultimately take Naruto with him. Of course, being a man of his status, making Naruto come back would be an easy task… but he liked to think he could have the blonde whenever he wanted without needing body guards dragging him in.  
>Without much warning at all, Kyuubi pushed into the other, ripping a loud moan from the other's lips, consisting of a mixture between pleasure and pain. He chuckled.<br>"Hurt?" Kyuubi asked as he immediately began to move, in and out of the tinier blonde, who was concealed in the full length of his shadow. Such a tiny thing compared to him—granted he wasn't very tiny at all. He was a grown man now, and up to his shoulder… Kyuubi was very tall though, so he would give him that.  
>Naruto let out a strangled noise, and Kyuubi only chuckled some more before pressing their lips together, his hands finding their way into his hair and grabbing at the blonde spikes as he thrust into the other again, and again. "F-fuck…"<p>

Sasuke was going out of his mind. He knew he was an asshole, and he knew Naruto didn't deserve to be treated the way he was by him, but he couldn't pry himself out of his own stubborn nature. He should have approached him after that phone call, apologized, told him how stressed he was, and then of course, apologize for the night some time ago when he had come to his house high and probably tried to molest him… Why else would he have locked himself in his bathroom and fallen asleep?  
>Sitting at his desk and fiddling with a pen, he knew he should be doing work, but it was hard to focus when his entire body was as stiff as a board and his mind couldn't seem to come to a stop for even a second. He felt like he might just explode, and hearing a knock at his door was something that neared him to the edge. "What?" He called out agitatedly; looking up with his black eyes narrowed as the door slowly came creaking open. "I'm very busy, and I'm not in the fuc-" He came to a stop upon realizing it wasn't Ino or any other annoying cohort trying to pry into his life. It was that man. Had he been given his name? He forgot, if he had.<br>There stood the tall man, cloaked in black, with black eyes, and black hair, and a look of apathy written all over his face. Bags circled his eyes, and Sasuke found himself wondering how little sleep you had to get to get bags so horrible. He took one long step into the room, and then turned to close the door behind him. "You're Sasuke?" His voice was dark, intimidating. Were Sasuke not so prideful, he would have shuddered visibly.  
>"You know that already." Sasuke answered somewhat quietly as he lowered his head, suddenly finding it a lot easier to try and focus on his work. He didn't want to look at that man. "What do you want?" He hissed out. Deep down, the presence of the man was nervewracking… He didn't like the idea of having the man who might inevitably be the cause of his death trying to talk him up in his own office. It wasn't pleasant in the least.<br>"Bitter." The man commented on the obvious, and for a moment he could have sworn he heard a smirk in his words, he didn't glance up to confirm it though, "Mind telling me why Kyuubi seems to think you need watching?" He didn't know? He had to know. He bit his bottom lip, to the point of bruising he was certain, contemplating whether or not he should talk. "Telling me won't matter, my job is the same either way. I figured I should just get a handle on things." He looked up, catching the other as he shrugged his broad shoulders.  
>"Drugs." Sasuke said blatantly. "I do drugs." He looked at the man and was confused to see a bit of what was seemingly disappointment in his eyes, "I'm assuming it's because my source is Orochimaru is why he's so pissy." He shrugged it off, "Does that answer your question?" He should ask him for his name, he thought, but then he realized, he didn't care.<br>"Why not change your source if that's the problem?" That was a difficult thing to answer, and Sasuke found himself without words. That was all he really had to do, well, to keep Kyuubi off his back anyways. It wouldn't solve his problem with Naruto, but at least he wouldn't have some specialized killer watching him. "Orochimaru is a dangerous man, I used to work for him." Why this man was standing at his desk, asking him questions and telling him information he didn't care for in return was beyond him.

"Listen," Sasuke said, setting his pen down, "I'm just facing a lot of shit here. Your job is to watch me and kill me if I step out of line, right? It's not to get all buddy-buddy with me, so quit the crap." He stood from his chair, taking his coat off the back and swinging it over his shoulders. He wanted to go find Naruto, he felt motivated to find him and just… maybe apologize. But if he didn't leave now, he wouldn't do it ever, that's what he knew for sure.  
>"Defensive." The man commented with that same sound to his voice, sounding as if he were amused, though now Sasuke was capable of seeing his expression hadn't changed much at all. He looked so familiar, and yet so strange at the same time. "Go on then," He stepped aside and gestured for Sasuke to leave, a smug air about him making the Uchiha furious. Regardless, he rolled his eyes and did just that, leaving the room without another word.<p>

He didn't look back, as he walked down the hall, not once. He went straight to Hinata at her desk up front, and with a sigh she gained her attention. "Sasu-"  
>"Do you know where Naruto is right now?" She blinked, her face blooding with color after being cut off. Sasuke knew he should apologize, but… clearly getting one apology out of him was a difficult task, even attempting to manage a second? That was asking for a murder. "I really need to find him." He said, and Hinata licked her lips, seeming to snap out of whatever daze Sasuke had put her in.<br>"Um, he was going up to Kyuubi's office… He said he had to tell him he was leaving early." _Oh yeah, the dinner. _He forgot that too. He frowned to himself, nodded, and mumbled a soft thank you to the girl before entering the nearby elevator. Up he went to the top floor, and from there he made his way down the hall, eager to retrieve the blonde from that bastards office and take him to lunch maybe. He deserved that much, right? He could manage one day of being pride and stubborn-free… Right? He was at the door, and didn't care to knock. He just wanted to go in, get Naruto, and leave, and if Kyuubi had a thing to say to him about it, he could talk to him about it tomorrow. He wasn't in the mood for that man, or his spies, or any of his stupid shit.

He turned the knob and pushed the door inward and froze instantly, like a deer caught in the headlights. He wasn't sure why it had come off as such a surprise to him, he knew it was happening, had walked in on it before too… but for some reason, it hit him hard this time around. He watched as Kyuubi glanced over his sweat-shined shoulder and locked eyes with him, red meeting black. Naruto must not have noticed at first, because he just slapped Kyuubi's shoulder and urged him to continue… Had the blonde not looked up and saw that Sasuke was watching, Kyuubi might have done just that, shamelessly. "Sasuke!" Naruto coughed out, quickly pushing Kyuubi off of him without much thought. The fox seemed displeased with the action, but he said nothing and simply reached down to pull up his boxers. Perfect. A big mess on his floor for nothing.

The Uchiha parted his lips, contemplating saying something. His face was straight, lacking anything that might give away what he was feeling to Naruto, and it made the blonde feel _horrible._ Why? He wasn't sure, but it did. The raven turned, seeming to decide against saying anything at all, and he walked off. It was around this time, Naruto realized he was standing in front of an opened door, naked, and covered in sweat and sex. He immediately slammed the door shut with an embarrassment-induced list of colorful curse words shouted out. "Fuck!" He ended with, turning to stare at Kyuubi, who seemed to know that Naruto wouldn't be climbing on top of him any time soon after that. He had buttoned up his pants and was pulling his shirt on over his shoulders, buttoning that up next. He gathered up Naruto's clothing and tossed them at him.  
>"Go." Kyuubi grumbled, "Just go." He was clearly unhappy, and Naruto knew he would pay for it dearly when he next came to work, but for now he nodded and quickly dressed himself. "Keep him out of trouble, that deal you made with me before now stands." Naruto flinched, but nodded his head and quickly finished dressing, grabbing his coat and rushing out of the room. He had to keep Sasuke clean, keep him out of the world of Orochimaru's. At the time, he felt he could handle it, but thinking back on it now, he regretted that promise, especially upon finding out that Sasuke's life wasn't horribly in danger. But… now it was. He had made it worse, so much more worse, hadn't he?<p>

"Sasuke?" He was half out the door when Naruto managed to get a hand around his arm. He wasn't sure why this was such a big deal, really… It had happened before, they both had their fair share of experiences walking on each other with unlikely and rather odd and wrong partners… but… For some reason, today just felt like the worst day for it to happen. "Sasuke." He breathed out quietly, taking a moment to ease his lungs, thankful the Uchiha had stopped instead of insisted to go on forward without him. Looking to the other, he had one brow raised, and if he didn't know better, he would think he was blushing a bit—now wasn't the time to tease him though. "Hey…" He breathed out, "I'm… sorry about that." Naruto leaned back, and Sasuke gave him a confused look.  
>"Why?" He asked, and Naruto blinked, unsure of how to answer.<br>"Ah… I… Just didn't… I don't know." He finally admitted and shrugged his shoulders, looking behind him, and to his sides before he urged Sasuke forward and began to head out alongside him. "Sorry." Naruto apologized for everything, while Sasuke felt as though speaking such words would be like cutting his tongue out with a rusty, dirtied scissor.  
>"It's fine." The Uchiha answered, "I should have knocked." He should have. Then again, he and Kyuubi shouldn't have been using the man's office for such acts.<p>

They walked side by side in a silence for a good ten minutes before Naruto realized… _Wait, where are we going? _"Hey Sasuke…" He finally spoke up, just as they stopped at the corner of a street, patiently waiting for the cars to finish passing so they could go on ahead.  
>"Hn?"<br>"Where are we going?" Naruto looked around, then to Sasuke. They could be going anywhere, with where they currently stood. Sasuke's apartment, Naruto's apartment… Hell, he was fairly certain Kyuubi lived somewhere nearby. Sasuke looked at him, then stepped forward, crossing the street, the blonde quick to follow up beside him.  
>"My apartment." He said. He decided he was going to ignore the fact he had just seen his best friend in a horrible position beneath his boss, and he was going to move on. He forgot about apologizing, but he could at least spend time with him regardless, right? He was… trying, which was good enough. For Sasuke, anyways. Though, looking at Naruto, he seemed pleased. "Plus, Kakashi's meeting us there. Apparently the place he wants to go to is in the area, or… something." Naruto nodded his head. He should just assume Sasuke called and gave the man his address over the phone when recently talking to him, but he had a sneaking suspicion the man had always known. He shuddered inwardly—though he had no real right to be creeped out by one of Sasuke's very odd partners, when Naruto had just been caught fucking their boss. Yeah. Sasuke won this one.<p>

They decided against speaking to one another about the very obvious elephant in the room. It was how their friendship lasted, Naruto liked to believe; the past was the past with them. It was rare they brought up old things, because they were both stubborn. They would both end up having lost, and getting hurt. It was just an obvious outcome to most things between them. So, they kept silent for the most part on the way to Sasuke's apartment, up until Naruto had spotted a familiar head of reddish hair that made him sick. His stomach churned and he narrowed blue eyes, "Sasuke…" He breathed out cautiously, only, much to his surprise, to be waved off. The girl was raising an arm to them and rapidly waving it back and forth like the crazy bitch she was. Sasuke half-expected to be dumped for her, but… Once again, much to his surprise, Sasuke ignored her. Like, _really_ ignored her. Naruto almost felt a bit bad for the girl, whom Sasuke passed by with not even his usual 'hn' as his way of acknowledging a person… Nope, he just passed by, eyes ahead… Hell, Naruto couldn't help but let out a soft 'hello' to ease her obviously hurt pride. But, once the bit of guilt passed and he finally realized what had just transpired, he looked to Sasuke, feeling almost proud. He knew not to hug him, or even so much as bring it up. Even if he did, Sasuke would deny it through and through and more than likely claim to have not have seen her… so Naruto just smiled dumbly to himself as they came up to his apartment building.

It was early, early enough to raid Sasuke's fridge before their dinner later that night. "Do you ever go food shopping?" Naruto called out from the kitchen, grimacing at the old looking food. He ripped through this and that, taking the task upon himself to trash whatever looked moldy and or just monstrous. Sasuke came in, watching with his dark brows furrowed and his raven hair a wet mess atop his head, water droplets slowly going down his face and falling from his pointy chin. He shrugged, and Naruto sighed. "You'd die without me, y'know that?" He stared at him for a moment, wetting his lips before looking back into the fridge. He found what looked to be a decent looking sandwich, half-eaten and wrapped up. He pulled it out, turning it over in his hands this way and that before deciding it would be eaten by him; as payment for his cleaning job. "How old is this?" Naruto asked, as he unwrapped it quickly and took a bite of it.  
>"A week or two." He should have waited for an answer, but the sandwich tasted okay enough to allow himself to continue to munch at it. It was fine, he figured, and he balled up what remained of what it had been wrapped in and tossed it into the nearby bin. "That's how you get food poisoning, you know." Sasuke decided to point out, as he ran a hand through his hair and slicked it back. He had a towel wrapped around his waist, and was shoving Naruto aside to get a cup from his cupboard, before moving to the sink to fill it with water.<br>"Tasted fine…" Naruto breathed, placing a hand over his stomach. He shrugged, deciding it was his turn to shower. He undid his jacket as he left the kitchen, Sasuke briefly watching him off before he turned back to his glass of water.

They watched TV and talked about stupid, non-important things until there was a knock at Sasuke's door. The raven raised himself from the couch, leaving the lazy-Naruto to watch the television as he walked off to the door, bringing it open to find a well-dressed Kakashi standing there. They stared at one another for a moment longer than it was deemed appropriate for most, he was sure, but eventually he stepped aside and let the man into his home, "I'm just going to assume should I ask how you afforded this place, I won't get an answer?" Kakashi knew something was up, but Sasuke was certain due to their past there wasn't a damned thing he would do about it.  
>"Probably." Sasuke answered, as he closed the door. The three were dressed all about the same – normal dress shirts, black or dark gray overcoats, dark jeans and nice shoes – nothing overboard, like Naruto decided for the both of them. Seemed like a good idea, now that he realized it. Naruto quickly stood from the couch and wandered over to Kakashi, holding out his hand. The male was pulled in without warning into a tight hug, and Naruto awkwardly smiled and patted the man's back before being let go,<br>"Nice seeing you ag—" _grumble, grumble_. Naruto's face flushed with color and he looked down at his stomach before looking to Kakashi, managing a bit of a laugh, "Sorry. Ah, nice seeing you again." He quickly said, shaking his head. Kakashi blinked, then laughed.  
>"Hungry already?" He asked, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his pants, hearing Naruto's stomach make inhumane noises once more, louder, longer. Naruto grasped his stomach and laughed some more, making both other men in the room raise their brows and give him a questioning looking. "Something wrong, Naruto?" Kakashi asked curiously, before looking to Sasuke, who seemed to have a bit of an idea. The Uchiha looked a bit nervous, and unsure. And then, he rolled his eyes, before bringing his hand to his face and running it over his eyes,<br>"Naruto… I told you that sandwich was maybe two wee—"  
>"I gotta use the bathroom! Hold on! I'll be fin-" The bathroom door slammed shut and Sasuke and Kakashi were left behind, unfortunate enough to be the audience of Naruto's obnoxiously loud barfing. Sasuke sighed, and shook his head.<br>"I'm afraid we'll have to reschedule." Sasuke decided after a short couple of seconds, already undoing his jacket and shrugging it off to set on to the arm of the couch. A familiar hand grabbed his shoulder and spun him around, making him face his visitor.  
>"I understand, but I'd like to talk to you… Alone…" He wasn't sure what that could possibly be about, truthfully. But with his current streak of bad luck, he imagined it wasn't because the guy wanted to have sex. The Uchiha narrowed his dark eyes and tilted his head to the side before letting his shoulders slump. He shrugged the other's hand over.<p>

"Well, we have plenty of time. Naruto's probably gonna be in there for a long time." Sasuke said, dropping his coat upon the arm of his couch, taking a step back away from Kakashi. The man was staring at him with knowing eyes, and Sasuke wasn't quite sure he wanted to hear what was about to come out of his mouth. He could already hear the words, asking him what was going on. And sadly, the question wouldn't be pertaining to his money, or his job, but to –  
>"Sasuke, what are you <em>on?<em>" Exactly. Sasuke stared at him and shook his head, licking nervously at his pale, and chapped lips as he took another step back.  
>"Nothing." He half-lied, deciding Kakashi was out of his life long enough that he didn't need to know everything that was going on in his life.<br>"Believe it or not, I'm not stupid. I'm a cop, I see drug-addicts come into my office every day." Drug addict, for some reason, that word stung. He flinched inwardly, and shook his head. He wasn't a drug addict, but to prove himself to the man, he decided to be truthful.  
>"I've been on and off a lot of things for the past couple of years; I'm in the process of getting clean though." He told him, and Kakashi didn't seem pleased with the answer. The white-haired man narrowed his eyes.<br>"When was the last time you used?" Used _what?_ It was a question with a couple of answers. Cocaine? A month and twelve days ago. Naruto hadn't talked to him for two weeks. Heroin? Four months, and two days ago. Naruto had found him and actually did a pretty good job of kicking his ass and breaking his things. Weed that had been apparently laced with God knows what? What was it? Almost two weeks ago now? And well, Naruto hadn't reacted too well to that either.  
>"Difficult answer." Sasuke decided to say with a shrug.<br>"'Cause you're doing more than one thing?" Kakashi folded his arms over his chest, and Sasuke sighed.  
>"It's not that big of a deal, really. It's not as bad as it was." That was the truth, he wasn't high every day, he was… sober for the most part. Miserable, but sober. Kakashi narrowed his mismatched eyes, nodding his head.<br>"Naruto know?" He decided to ask, and Sasuke nodded quickly in response.  
>"Yep."<br>"Does he—"  
>"No, no." Sasuke shook his head, quick to defend his friend's sobriety from drugs. Kakashi nodded his head, seeming pleased with at least that.<p>

The two stared each other down for a long time in silence, neither sure what to say. It was awkward, when you were facing a man you fucked when you were underage… And whom was now a cop and you were a drugged up criminal. Funny how life worked, huh? Didn't help that Naruto's vomiting was echoing through his apartment, making the moment all the more awkward and… kind of disgusting. Sasuke could do nothing but sigh, and question the God whom he'd never truthfully believed in; _why do you hate me so much?_

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><p>Review!<p>

Likes. Dislikes. Suggestions. Anything. x3


	7. Brotherly Love

Sorry it took me so long to update. Been busy with life amongst other things. I'm half considering starting this one over, if only because I love the idea, but hate the writing. And I might change some things. But I have no clue if I have the patience for it, or the fanbase. xD So you let me know what you think I should do. The help would be appreciated. (: -

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><p>"How could you tell?" Sasuke decided to ask. Kakashi gave him a 'you're kidding me' look, and shook his head.<br>"It's written all over you. You look too tired. Your face just looks sunken in and your eyes are just… faded." He sighed. "It's not a good look for you Sasuke." He had a feeling that was supposed to be some kind of an attempt at a compliment for how he once looked, but Sasuke decided to dismiss it and just nodded his head. It was silent again. Kakashi had decided against leaving until told to do so, but with Naruto seemingly hacking up a lung in the back, Sasuke couldn't allow him to linger anymore. He felt uncomfortable on top of that, and so it was easy to take a rain check and send the man on his way. Sasuke stood in his living room for a while before deciding he should check on Naruto, who had long since quieted down, and by the time he opened the bathroom door, was just curled up on the floor, with his arms tightly wrapped around his stomach.  
>"Sasuke…" He whined out childishly, making the Uchiha sigh. The raven raised a hand to his face and held it there for a moment before he leaned over to take the blonde by the shoulder.<br>"C'mon, you'll sleep in my bed."

After a bit of effort, mostly to avoid being thrown up on, Sasuke had managed to drop Naruto into his bed. He wasted no time bringing the trash bin next to his desk in the corner of the room and setting it down next to the bedside. As much as he loved the kid, he would rather he not throw up all over his room. "I'll be right back." He sighed, hearing Naruto moan out in pain. "If you're lucky, you'll just throw up continuously today and get this all out of your system." Naruto gave him a paled questioning look, obviously wondering what would happen should he not be so lucky. Sasuke didn't answer him, he only went to the kitchen, where he boiled up some water and placed a tea-bag inside. He bobbed it up and down, letting the water soak it up before he tossed the useless bag and returned to his room, watching Naruto dry-heave into the basket he had brought to him. "Drink this. Slowly." Sasuke ordered, handing it out to the other. Naruto moaned childishly, and Sasuke grumbled. "You're not gonna hold this down either, but it'll flush you out. You're gonna throw up a lot, might as well get it all out of your system now." Sasuke told him and nudged the warm mug into the other's shoulder, watching Naruto lean back a bit to retrieve it.

Naruto found the Uchiha to be scarily good at aiding the sickly, but he had a feeling it was because he had far too much experience in taking care of himself when like this. He didn't question him though, because he knew he wouldn't get an answer, on top of that, it was hard to mutter a word without barfing up something. But, thankfully, he had started to feel better late that night. Sasuke was up, sitting on one end of the bed with an unlit cigarette rolling idly between his chapped lips, shirtless with just boxers and sweats on, and his black hair swept to the side. His dark eyes lit up by the TV screen, as he aimlessly flipped through channels. It wasn't until he noticed the absence of loud dry heaving did he finally turn to find Naruto turned to face him, curled up in a tiny, pathetic little ball with his hands tightly grasping his stomach. "Hurts," He whined childishly. He looked up, faded blue eyes meeting black.  
>"You should feel lucky. If it was actually food poisoning, picture what you were just doing, ten times worse, for a couple of more days." Naruto gulped and his face paled at the thought. He shook his head and shuffled upward a bit to get his head on to one of the pillows. They were silent for a while longer, Naruto taking his time to watch some of the channels flicker by over and over, not seeming to really care Sasuke seemed adamant on not resting on one channel for whatever reason. After some time, he decided he should ask,<br>"Can I spend the night?" Sasuke stared at him, arching a brow. He rolled his eyes and looked back to the TV.  
>"It's almost one in the morning. You didn't drive here. And I'm sure as hell not getting up to drive you." Sasuke answered calmly in his seemingly always monotonous tone as he continued to press that down button on his remote. Naruto stared at him long and hard, eyes wide with childlike confusion. They remained like that until Sasuke sighed, "Yes. You can stay." There we go. A light bulb went off in Naruto's head and he perked up, shortly before remembering the pain in his gut, which immediately resulted in his cowering back into the mattress and closing his eyes tight. "Do you want more tea?" Sasuke was already standing up, fixing his sweats about his hips as he rounded the bed, walking to the door. Naruto raised his head and opened an eye, watching him as he paused at the door. Their gazes locked again, and Naruto shrugged his shoulders.<br>"Sure."

It had been two weeks of pure bliss. There were no random twists and bouts of fighting, no stress, and much to his surprise, no angry Kyuubi. The man seemed oddly pleased with himself through those two weeks, and it admittedly put everyone on edge. Everyone except Naruto, who was a quite literal ray of sunshine walking the halls of their lovely little building, practically dancing and prancing, this way and that. Ino was happy, to see him happy, Hinata was too, judging from the way she would smile so brightly, and blush so strongly. Sasuke didn't exactly seem put off by his change of attitude either, and… well, Naruto liked to think his change of attitude affected him in more ways than one. He hadn't seen him even pick up a drink! It confused him at first, but past that he realized he should just be happy and proud he was making an attempt… granted the guy probably thought he was going to be killed if he didn't.

Speaking of Itachi, Naruto just had an odd feeling about him. He was around the building a lot, for obvious reasons of course, always keeping a dangerously close eye on the Uchiha. He had never spoken to him, but more often than not wished to go up to him and just interrogate him. He seemed familiar, and was a curious individual in general. Naruto was no angel, he had no right questioning the man's decision to be a killer for hire, but, at the same time, he wondered what was going through his head as he watched over Sasuke like some type of bird of prey. Maybe he was insane. Seemed like he had the potential to be just that.  
>"Staring at him like that probably won't answer anything for you." Naruto practically jumped right out of his skin, quickly spinning around only to end up facing Hinata's cousin. Neji arched a brow at him, his pale eyes flickering over his face. He sighed and shook his head holding out a folder for him to take, "Kiba's waiting outside in the car. Kyuubi just wants you to do some busy work today. Asuma's back in one of Kyuubi's whore houses, pulling his usual fits. A boy names Gaara is apparently selling loads of horribly weak and or fake drugs to our people. Shikamaru keeps leaving work, and Kyuubi wants you to find him and…" He paused, taking the file back and opening it up, "Tell him to bite the curb." He smirked. Naruto flinched, and rolled his eyes. He knew that was just Kyuubi's sense of humor though, so he managed a bit of a smirk. "And lastly, he wants you to meet with the entirety of the Akatsuki." That part struck a nerve; he stared at the other, wide eyed and frozen, his heart feeling as though it had stopped for a second or two. Neji locked eyes with him, and for a second, he thought he saw sympathy in the depths of those pale orbs as he handed the folder back over to him. "Relax," He told him, "Kyuubi said he would do it himself, but… apparently he has another meeting to attend to with Madam Kurenai." Neji shrugged his shoulders, folding his arms over his chest. "I think everything you need to discuss with them is in that folder…" The boy turned his back to him, and without another word, he flicked a wave and began to walk off. Naruto stared after him, then sighed.<p>

There was a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to have his blue eyes meet with black, "Sas-" He paused at the realization he wasn't looking into Sasuke's orbs, but another's. It took him a moment to recognize the man as Itachi, and at that point, he froze once more, feeling as though after these past couple of minutes, he was going to need someone to just restart his heart.  
>"I imagine we'll be getting to know each other at meeting later in the day." The man smiled, "Please don't be late." Funny, this man was telling him not to be late to a meeting he was apparently supposed to be hosting. Regardless, Naruto nodded his head, pure intimidation keeping him from saying anything. He hurried off like a dog with its tail between its legs, and went right out the door.<p>

Asuma was getting easier and easier to deal with, it was a ten minute stop in which Naruto dragged him out with the help of Kiba. They had him thrown out fast enough, and once he was done cursing and stomping around like the bearded, oversized three-year-old that he was, the first job was complete, and they were moving on. The name Gaara was one whom he had heard before. He was a partner, more or less, a young prodigy of the drug world. It had interested him at first, to hear just how early in life people could become involved in such things. The man was no older than he or Sasuke, and already he was about as infamous as Kyuubi! Needless to say, their boss was quick to snatch him up and use him. They split their profits and it ultimately pleased Kyuubi over the years, but according to the paperwork he was staring at, it wasn't so as of lately.  
>The reports complained of Gaara selling weaker stuff, or fake stuff all together, that he's been ripping Kyuubi off for the past couple of weeks. If that was really the case, he was shocked the fox hadn't gone ahead himself and shot the man between the eyes. If there was one thing Kyuubi didn't like, it was being back stabbed. It led him to believe people thought they could look down upon him, and meanwhile, Kyuubi thought of himself as very much like a God. To be looked down upon, was means for smiting.<p>

"You ever meet him?" Kiba asked, as they walked along through the dark alley way, both boys thinking to themselves how cliché` it was that their business was quite literally hidden underneath the stones they now walked on. How movie-esque.  
>"Nah." Naruto shook his head.<br>"I heard he's a real freak." Kiba commented, touching his index finger to his forehead and tracing out lines, "He's got the character for 'love' printed on his forehead. It's real to. I don't t know whether I should think he's hardcore or just a fuckin' moron." Both he and Kiba laughed at this as they began knocked on the metal door just at the end of the alleyway, waiting patiently with dumb grins on their faces. The last thing they expected was to be greeted by a tall, curvy blonde. But her expression was far from welcoming. She stared them down, glaring at them as though they had both killed her parents and ate her siblings afterwords, and Naruto felt the need to shy away, maybe run away all together. He of course, stood his ground, and glared back. He doubted it was convincing though.  
>"What?" She barked, folding her strong arms over her busty chest, tilting her head to the side.<br>"Kyuubi sent us." That was all it took. Her eyes lit up, and with that, she stepped aside and gestured for the two to enter, immediately welcomed to the sight of a long, narrow stairway heading downward. Naruto was actually thankful to have Kiba by his side, doing this alone might have been a bit nerve-wracking.

The business was oddly elaborate, nothing like the movies he had to say. There were many people, moving around, moving boxes this way and that, packing things away, a lot of which were sealed tightly away in tiny plastic bags, hidden away amongst boxes of what seemed to be regular, every day products such as coffee beans and the likes. Smart, he thought, a smirk touching his lips as he continued to walk along until they were met with another door, large, seemingly rarely touched for it was a smoothed out, brown color, and unaffected by the rest of the dirty room. Clean, he thought, as he touched the golden knob and quickly turned it, letting himself inside.

Gaara seemed to be around his age, more or less, with obviously dyed, bright red hair that was a mess atop his head. His scarily light blue eyes were thickly lined with dark black eyeliner, and it was almost enough to make Naruto grimace with disgust and slight fear. The man was either extremely intimidating, or just an outright freak. But according to the rumors, he was a drug-lord prodigy. Once inside with Kiba to his right, he heard footsteps enter in behind him, a click signaling the door had closed, and soon Gaara had two bodyguards of his own. One being the busty blonde who had allowed them in, the other being a slightly shorter, yet muscular brunette male, who looked just about the same as the blonde had; pissed off and prepared to avenge his murdered parents and devoured siblings. The three of them were all freaks in his eyes, and ultimately scared the shit out of him all the same. "You said Kyuubi sent you?"  
>The words jolted him from his train of thought, and Naruto blinked. It took a painful nudge from Kiba's elbow before he really registered the question that the red-head had asked.<br>"Yes." He quickly answered, clearing his throat and nudging Kiba away. They must look like childish, inexperienced fools.

"And?" It was around this time Naruto realized that the man had not only tattooed the characters for 'love' into his forehead, but that he was also severely lacking in the eyebrow area. The corner of Naruto's mouth twitched in response to the discovery, and he tried not to laugh. The way the man brought what should be eyebrows together in a slightly angered look was not helping Naruto's incoming giggle-fit.  
>"You've been selling Kyuubi fake shit," Thank whatever God there was for Kiba to be there to be the serious one for once. "He wants to know why and whether or not it'll stop." Gaara was wearing a bitter smirk, and his two body-guards were exchanging glances.<br>"That's business." Gaara said, "Kyuubi has been paying me less money, so I've been giving him less quality goods. I've been giving him the same amount, he should be thankful for that." His face kind of pissed Naruto off.  
>"You ever think he's paying you less, because you're giving him less?" Gaara's eyes lit up, but he doubted it was because Naruto had gotten to him with his words. Because, well, that would just make this all too easy, and when was life ever easy for him?<br>"_Oh?_" Gaara reminded him all too much of Kyuubi, "I see your point. But you see, there's plenty of people out there willing to pay more for my drugs. Why should I give the more quality product to those paying less, when I can give the purest of drugs to those who are willing to pay as much as it takes?" He smiled, "I'm sure you know Orochimaru is infamous amongst the drug industry." That name made him twitch, and he was sure when he mentioned the name to Kyuubi, things would be thrown and broken in a fit of blinding rage. "You tell Kyuubi if he has a problem with my drugs, that I have a problem with his prices." Gaara looked back to his two body guards, and in response, they stepped forward. Naruto narrowed his eyes, and exchanged a glance with Kiba. "Obtaining, and selling the purest of drugs is a risky and pricy business, I'm sure Kyuubi of all people would understand."  
>"Well, clearly not." Naruto said.<br>"Clearly not." Gaara confirmed with a sigh, and he rose a hand and gestured for the two to leave. Kiba and Naruto exchanged another glance. "Please leave before I make you leave." That threat sounded so calm, but that was possibly the reason it sounded so much more intimidating. Naruto nodded his head, and with that turned and left with Kiba by his side.

"Now we have to go and find Shikamaru…" Naruto announced as they made their way through the warehouse and out into the world again. It was like that lazy-ass had heard his cue, because the moment they stepped back out into the alleyway, there he was. He was dressed nicely in a dress shirt and a pair of slacks, and he had what appeared to be a gift of flowers wrapped nicely in plastic and held in his hand. Naruto and Kiba froze at the sight of him, and when he realized he wasn't alone in the alleyway, he froze as well. "Um." Naruto was at a loss for words, and Kiba was no different, they stared at the man for a long time before Shikamaru cleared his throat.  
>"Hey." He said, flicking them a wave with his free hand before reaching up to scratch the back of his head.<br>"Um. Hi." Naruto and Kiba said in unison."  
>"…" Naruto didn't really want to know, neither did Kiba, and Shikamaru didn't seem like he wanted to explain. So, he kept it short.<br>"Kyuubi's gonna off you if you keep leaving work. So I'd suggest making this your last… little… ah, trip for a while." And with that, his work for the day was done. Almost, anyways.

"Hey, so… you want to come with me to this meeting thing?" Naruto asked just as Kiba was pulling up to the curb right in front of their building. The dog turned and gave him a skeptical look, then laughed in his face.  
>"Hah. Fuck now." He said with a shake of his head, "I'd rather none of them knew my name, or my face." Kiba wasn't in the wrong; it was nerve-wracking knowing that even one of them already knew Naruto's name. He didn't like to think that Itachi was watching him like he was watching Sasuke, the thought in itself made him shudder.<br>"Fine…" Naruto sighed as he got out of the car and headed right into the building, Kiba not far behind.  
>"Hey, if you die. Can I get your shit?" Naruto shot the man a glare, promptly flipping him off before parting ways.<p>

The room was dark upon entering, the farthest thing from comforting. He quickly flipped on the lights only to be met with an empty conference room. The blonde blinked, looking this way and that before sighing. "And the dick tells me not to be late?" He was right on time! Right on the dot. And not a single person was here. He moved forward, taking a seat at the end of the long, glass, conference table.  
>"Bored?" The voice came out of nowhere it seemed, and it was enough to send Naruto out of his chair and standing up straight, his heart threatening to slam right out of his chest.<br>"What the fuck?" Naruto was met face to face with the Sasuke-look-alike. From the looks of it, he had just been standing there in the corner of the room the whole time, and Naruto was busy trying to figure out how he had missed him standing right there.  
>"I regret to inform you that the others couldn't make it," Itachi sighed, and Naruto died a little bit inside, "So I suppose the meeting is cancelled." Itachi combed his fingers through his bangs, another sigh leaving his lips as he approached the long table, placing both his hands down on the cool, glass surface. "Unless you have any questions for me? I mean, you've been staring so hard at me for the past two weeks, I've just assumed you were curious about something…" Naruto blinked. He thought he had been so good at hiding it, never had he caught Itachi staring back at him. His cheeks burned red from embarrassment, parting his lips to attempt to speak, but all that came out were stuttered attempts at words that sounded absolutely unrecognizable. "Is that a no?" Itachi was taunting him with that smirk he wore, the smirk that didn't quite reach his pitch-black eyes<br>"I've just…" Naruto licked his lips quickly before attempting to continue, "You look familiar. And I don't quite understand why Kyuubi seemed to dead set on you being the one watching Sasuke." Naruto gulped loudly, feeling a lump begin to form in his throat, suffocating him slowly.  
>"Ah, I was waiting for a question like that," The man hummed thoughtfully, seating himself on the edge of the conference table, "And I'm unsure of how to answer… Because you see, if I were to tell you too much, you have the possibility of blabbing, and that wouldn't sit right with me. Nor would I think it would sit right with Kyuubi, since I'm being paid to keep my mouth shut. Professional. You know." He shrugged, and Naruto nodded his head with understanding – this was a hush-hush place they worked in, it was understandable.<p>

"But how can it be my fault if you should just figure it out for yourself? It's not like I can exactly blame you then." Narrowed blue eyes looked him over, and Itachi tilted his head to the side for a moment, "Who exactly do I remind you of? You I was familiar, yes?" Naruto shrugged.  
>"That's why I think it's strange, really. It's like Kyuubi plucked the one person who looked like Sasuke, to kill him should he step out of line." Itachi rolled his eyes, but didn't stop him and waved for him to continue onward, "So, you remind me of Sasuke. Same hair and eye color… " He pursed his lips, "Kyuubi said you asked to take position as the one to watch over Sasuke. Why?"<br>"Hadn't I just told you I can't tell you anything? You'll have to figure it out for yourself." The smirk was really beginning to bother him. "So, go on." He was urged, and Naruto nodded. "Truthfully, it shouldn't be this hard." The corner of his mouth twitched, and he glared at the Sasuke-look-alike.  
>"I'm not good with the obvious."<br>"Clearly." He was getting an attitude, and it was pissing Naruto off.  
>"So you take this position specifically for some reason. You look like him." He shrugged, "You <em>want<em> to kill him?" He was given a dirty look and he narrowed his eyes, "You just… want to follow him?" The look softened. "Because you look like him?"  
>"<em>Seriously?"<em> Itachi glared at him with those beady, black eyes, causing him to shrink back a bit. "I expected an Uchiha to get… more… intelligent friends." Then within seconds, something within the back of his mind clicked, and things seemed to all come together. Itachi watched curiously as Naruto's wide, blue eyes filled with some kind of new knowledge, expectantly arching a brow.

"You're his father!" Naruto blurted out, and the death glare he was given was enough to have him piss himself, really. Naruto went to the other end of the conference table, suddenly feeling threatened in the other's presence.  
>"Do I look that old to you?" Naruto blinked, going over what he had thought of before deciding to give it another shot. "… Cousin?"<br>"This is… I… I don't even know what to say to your stupidity and obliviousness, honestly I don't. And maybe it's for the best, I'm not quite ready to go and speak with Sasuke about the matter." The man stood up, and Naruto frowned. And then it hit him like a brick, and he felt near to showing himself out the window from how much idiocy he had displayed to the stranger before him.

"Sasuke told me his brother died." Naruto said calmly, earning a half-relieved look from Itachi. "Said he went insane and then killed himself." Both of Itachi's brows raised, and Damien leaned away cautiously, as though prepared to be attacked at any moment.  
>"Is that what he thinks?" Naruto shrugged his shoulders, "Interesting." Itachi was moving for the exit, and it left Naruto feeling absolutely confused. "I hope you understand you can't tell anyone about this?" Naruto parted his lips, but Itachi went on, "I just felt as though if there was anyone to spill this too, it would be you. You seemed… moronic enough." Naruto twitched, <em>what the fuck was that supposed to mean?<em> Itachi chuckled. "But my intention is not to kill Sasuke, consider it an act of brotherly love." The man rolled his eyes, shrugged his shoulders, and without much else to say, he left the room and closed the door, leaving Naruto with all this knowledge, with absolutely no one to tell.

It sucked knowing things.

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><p>- As always, if you could review and share and whatnot, it would be much appreciated. x3<p> 


	8. Deep Down

Actually liked this chapter - well, for the most part. Not a fan of the end, but maybe I'll go back in and edit it later until I like it.

BUUUT, for now, here you go.

Thank you for the reviews, still not sure what I'ma do with this, but I'll fill you in when I know. xD;

Please keep reviewing, and sharing, and all that awesome stuff. It makes me happy.

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><p>He hadn't realized it was raining until he felt the dampness reach his skin through the two layers of clothing he had hiding his bare chest from the world. It chilled him, and he found himself shivering, yet refusing to move from his spot on the floor of the roof. He was so tired. For the first time in a long time, he wanted the world to slow down, or maybe just stop all together. The rain showered down upon him in a way that made him wonder if the world was either trying to sooth him, or piss him off further – either way, Naruto didn't find it in him to care for the inevitable cold that staying out here would give him. Maybe being sick was what he needed – a break from work, from life. He didn't mind the idea of remaining holed up in his room for a couple of days. Away from people, and away from people like Kyuubi and Itachi. Ever since the news had dawned upon him, ever since he realized his head was filled with so much horrible, and possible life-shattering information, he just felt the need to avoid everyone, and it was what he had been doing for a good three days now. He didn't want to be molested by Kyuubi, or smirked at by Itachi. He didn't want to look Sasuke in the eye, or attempt to explain himself to Ino. He just wanted things to stop.<p>

"Any reason you're hiding all the way up here?" Kyuubi was standing in the door way, the metal door having been carelessly left open by Naruto. The blonde tilted his head back and dared open his light blue eyes to find Kyuubi staring at him. He wasn't angry, but more just confused and possibly even curious. His red eyes light up with something he just couldn't quite read from where he lay, he remained there with his lips pressed together, "You're letting all the rain and cold air in…" Kyuubi complained, shielding himself from the rain as he pulled out a cigarette and placed it between his lips, his shiny wedding band catching a bit of light and shining right into Naruto's eyes. It was more a slap to the face though.  
>"Shouldn't you take your wedding band off at work? Isn't that some kind of policy for you?" Naruto hadn't realized it, but he was a bit snippy – but Kyuubi must have, because he stared at the boy with both brows raised, and a smirk touched his pale lips.<br>"Agitated today, are we?" He breathed out smoke, and the image was so perfect. A cloud of gray with nothing but crimson red hair, and eyes to match showing through it – it was the image of the devil himself, and Naruto began to question his choices in life. "Something happen?" Kyuubi decided to push, and Naruto just looked back up to the sky, sighing.

Kyuubi had many sides to him, and Naruto was unfortunate enough to know all of them. He was horny, caring, selfish, angry, very angry, sweet, and above all else, deceiving. The man knew how to play people, and he never quite figured out if he was just another person to be played. "Please don't make me baby you to get you inside." The man groaned dramatically, and Naruto scoffed in response before pulling himself up into a seated position. He stayed like that for a good five seconds, sighing just as he pushed himself up to his feet. "That'a boy." The man clapped his hands together, and Naruto found himself picturing punching the red-head in the face over, and over, and over again until it was unrecognizable.

Slicking his blonde hair back with the help of rainwater, he turned and slipped past the other and into the thin, dimly lit hallway, leaving room for Kyuubi to pull the metal door shut. The blonde grimaced, listening to the metal scrape against concrete, until the door finally closed with one final thud. "You've been avoiding me." Kyuubi said, a statement, not a question. Then again, the man seemed to know all.  
>"Not really," Naruto lied – though then again, he was avoiding everyone, it wasn't like he was just picking on Kyuubi. Either way, his boss scoffed.<br>"You've been avoiding everyone." Kyuubi corrected himself through another break of smoke, fixing his arms around his chest as he stepped in front of Naruto and leaned against one of the walls. He rose on of his freakishly long legs and planted his foot against the opposing wall, locking his employee in. "I'm curious as to why." There was no choice for Naruto to turn away, or to say nothing, because he knew Kyuubi – the man was stubborn enough to stay here all day and night should it take that long to get him to talk. Naruto glared at him, and only received a smirk in response, as well as a gesture to go on and speak. He scoffed.  
>"I'm just busy lately." Says the employee to the boss who hasn't really assigned him much of anything lately.<br>"Oh?" Kyuubi chuckled, "With what? Because I haven't really bombarded you with anything big as of lately… I haven't come to your apartment, or forced you to come to mine, and as far as I'm aware, the Sasuke situation has been under control lately. Isn't that all aspects of your life, or has something else arose of which I'm not aware of?" That was his life, wasn't it? Working. Kyuubi. Sasuke. It went around and around every day, occasionally spiced up with conversations with Ino, or running into old friends like Kakashi. Other than that, every morning he woke up knowing he would have to deal with one of the three. Was that any way to live?

"Itachi told me about the cancelled meeting, was it something with that?" Kyuubi was persistent, and Naruto could see it in his eyes – that he had no intention of giving this up easily. He wanted to know what was up, and he wanted to know at that very moment. It was silent for a long time, however, Naruto not about to spill anything he knew. Truthfully he forgot as to whether Kyuubi would be alright with knowing he knew about Itachi and Sasuke's relations, he couldn't recall with the older Uchiha had said to him, but he was assuming now it was best not to open his mouth to anyone. Kyuubi was pulling out a second cigarette when he next spoke, "Interesting man, he is," He placed the cancer stick between his lips and ran the flames of his Zippo lighter beneath the end as he sucked in a deep breath of nicotine. "What was your impression of him?" He asked through a breath of smoke, making Naruto cough, as it was blown directly into his face. No man, smoker or not, could handle a blast of cigarette smoke to the face like that.  
>"What does it matter?" Naruto coughed uncomfortable, rubbing at one of his eyes and lazily shrugging a shoulder. "He was creepy." Naruto threw it out there, deciding he should give the man something. But it didn't please Kyuubi, it seemed. The man pulled the cigarette from his mouth long enough to lick at his dried lips and sigh. "He asked specifically to be the one to watch Sasuke, didn't he?" That was what he remembered Kyuubi saying, and he thought he heard Itachi say something similar.<br>"Yes." Kyuubi said before placing the cigarette back between his lips to suck in another lungful of nicotine. "He was very adamant about getting the position. I thought it odd myself, but now that I look back on it, it should have been obvious." Kyuubi smirked, and looked to Naruto with a knowing look to his red eyes. The blonde immediately lowered his gaze to the ground, gulping almost nervously.

"They look so much alike." The man hummed, pursing his lips as he seemed to slip into thought, "Not sure whether I should respect Sasuke more or less – considering his brother's status." The Akatsuki was a very well-known name in the city of Konoha, they were greatly feared by most people with a brain… but perhaps to Kyuubi such a status was something to be proud of. "What do you think of it?" Kyuubi suddenly asked, bringing Naruto from his thoughts – the blonde blinked at him and then let out a sigh, suddenly wishing for a cigarette of his own.  
>"I have no clue what to think of it." And that was the truth. He felt a bit angered, for his friend who spent so long in that orphanage all by himself for the most part… When apparently he had a rich, infamous brother out there who could have taken care of them. He didn't know Itachi's backstory, and thus automatically found the man cruel for leaving his younger brother to become what he was now – a drug addict working for a crime-lord.<br>"I wonder what will happen when Sasuke finds out," The man hummed, "If he finds out." He corrected himself with a shrug. Their eyes met, and Naruto furrowed his brows.  
>"Will you not tell him?" He asked, "It's not like you're scared of someone like Itachi… are you?" His voice could almost be deemed threatening, and if Kyuubi heard it as that, Naruto wasn't sure, because he laughed at his words.<br>"Of course not," He said, and shook his head, "But it's simply interesting to see how it plays out. Should I see it fit, that telling him would improve my life in some way or another, of course I will… but as of right now it's doing nothing to me." He looked to Naruto, and his eyes roamed over him, "You on the other hand… The information seems to be taking a toll." He smirked, "That is why you've been so…" He paused, breathing out smoke into a ring that fell apart against Naruto's forehead, "Distant lately… is it not?" The man had a way of reading through him that could be deemed utterly terrifying at times.  
>"Yes." Naruto admitted, "I don't like lying to Sasuke when I've been so adamant about him telling me the truth."<br>"It is a tad bit hypocritical," Kyuubi commented with a smirk. It was silent again, and slowly Kyuubi slipped his foot off the wall, a silent signal Naruto was free to go, but the blonde didn't move, and neither did the red-head. "Maybe you're jealous." Kyuubi mumbled through his cigarette, but Naruto heard it crystal clear, and his heart sank at the realization that he was in fact, jealous. Guilt hit him like a brick to the face, and immediately he wanted to go back out on to the roof, lay himself down and open his mouth and hopefully in a couple of hours he would drown. But… he just remained frozen there.

"Is it bad?" Naruto asked, thankful Kyuubi seemed to be in a decent enough mood to fake being nice to him as he usually would from time to time. "That I'm jealous?" Jealous that Sasuke had someone, and… Naruto was still entirely alone in the world. No family that he could think of, but Sasuke had a family member left alive. Sure, he was a well-known killer, but… still.  
>"Nah." Kyuubi leaned forward and plopped a hand down on Naruto's still damp hair, a smirk playing with his lips, "A little bit silly, but… That's you." Kyuubi turned his back on him after that, muttering a soft, "Now go with Kiba, he needs help getting some work done," before entirely disappearing down the hall, and down the long flight of metal stairs. He listened to his footsteps until they no longer reached his ears, and it was then he finally allowed himself to breath. Silly. He was right – he was being entirely silly.<p>

There sat a picture of his past, staring him in the face with warm smiles and bright eyes. They were begging him to stay where he sat for a while longer, begging him not to go out and indulge himself in his addictions. With a collection of the two people whom had run the orphanage he grew up in, Jiraiya and Tsunade, with the help of Kakashi to their left, in front of them sat the younger, tinier forms of himself and Naruto. He noted he had always been a bit of a pouty person, his cheeks were puffed out stubbornly, with Naruto tugging at them in an attempt to force a smile before the camera snapped the picture – the attempt had obviously failed, but he remembered Tsunade claiming it was worth it, with how adorable it had seemed to her.

With shaking hands, Sasuke got to the corner of the bed and stared harder at the picture through half-opened, black eyes. He wasn't sure how long he had sat there, how long he had spent staring into his past and wishing things had gone differently, but eventually he stood up and approached the picture. Shame covered his face as he took the picture and flipped it downward, not wanting to see such innocence staring him in the eyes as he turned to dress into his street clothing, slipping on a pair of sneakers before heading out the front door of his apartment. Knowing someone was watching him, someone with intent to kill, should have alarmed him, should have swayed his decision into staying in bed – but maybe he had a death wish. He had been thinking a lot about it lately, maybe deep down he just wanted to die. He sure as hell had the self-destructive behavior down, so maybe his intentions all along were that he was simply looking for a premature death. Either by overdose, or by his boss's hands. He never thought too deeply on it, but lately Naruto hadn't been around as much, and well, he had been sober. A sober Sasuke was a depressed Sasuke, as sad as that was.

Getting into his car, he sat there for a couple of moments, pulling out his phone to read through missed messages over the past couple of days. One of them had been from Naruto, to cancel a lunch plan they had had, and the rest were from Orochimaru, asking him where he was and when he intended on visiting again. He stared at the name, pursing his lips, the fingers of his free hand drumming over his upper thigh with contemplation. But when it came down to it, he was weak – and so he pressed the call button and watched as Orochimaru's number came across the screen beneath his name in bold, and he set the phone against his ear. The hissing sound of the older males voice came on, "Hello~." The man practically sang out, making Naruto almost shiver.  
>"Hey… where are you?" He asked quietly, his voice raspy. There was a deep chuckle on the other end and it made Sasuke frown to himself for whatever reason.<br>"Don't to me for weeks, and now you want to know where I am? Oh Sasuke, how unkind. I'm deeply hurt." He could practically hear the other licking his lips, "I can't say I'm very much interested in catering to a person whom decides to see me only when they decide they're in the mood for it." There was a short pause, followed by a loud, over-dramatic sigh, "You'd think you'd be trying to be a bit nicer to me if you want to end up in my shoes one day." Sasuke's gaze shifted from his steering wheel, to the window to his left, half-paranoid he might see one of the Akatsuki members staring at him from across the street. But there was no one, much to his relief. "You do want to be the one to take my place, don't you?"  
>It had been a conversation in the past; it was how he had met Orochimaru, actually. It was during one of his many coke binges had he met the man behind the drugs. He was offered a position of power, and truthfully he had never been happier in his life to hear he had opportunities for something bigger. Possibly something even bigger than Kyuubi. The red-head always seemed so threatened by the name Orochimaru; it made him almost giddy to think that one day he might be seated behind all those drugs, running the show.<br>There was a disgusting, loud cough from the other end that brought Sasuke from his vivid day-dreaming, leaving him blinking, and quickly sitting himself up right in his seat.  
>"Where are you?" Sasuke repeated his earlier question, earning a strained laugh from the other end.<br>"That's a stupid question, you know where I am." Orochimaru was smiling, he could tell, "If you're looking to buy, bring money or be prepared to do something else. You know the deal. Besides, I've been wanting to talk business with you anyways." There was another laugh, before the phone clicked off and Sasuke was left to fester in silence within his car, slowly lowering the phone from his ear before tucking it away into his pocket. He sucked in a breath, tasting the metal of his car on his tongue before blowing it out shakily. He was a disgusting human being.

Pulling up down the block from the warehouse, he found his phone vibrating within his pocket. Once he was all parked, he made quick to check the source of the vibration to find a text… For a while he felt as though Naruto had been avoiding him, and being a man with a stubborn pride he had refused to address the problem with him. Though he couldn't recall having done anything wrong, he naturally blamed himself, figuring he must have done _something_. He let Naruto have his space; so he was a bit shocked to find a text message from him pop up on his screen. But perhaps it was simply the world testing him, simply proving to him further how horrible he was.

_8:22 PM – Naruto Uzumaki_

_ Hey, Sasuke. Sorry I've been weird lately. Want to meet up for ramen with me tonight? Kiba and Shikamaru are probably gonna tag along… Please? _

He felt his heart sink in his chest, and he pressed himself back into the leathery seats of his car, listening to them groan under his weight. The choice should be easy; any sober person without the experience of hard drugs would think it just wasn't that easy. His heart was beating so fast, he felt as though if he didn't take something he would burst, and he knew deep down the feeling was more than likely just a miniature panic attack mixed with the guilty of knowing what he was about to do. But he simply used it as an excuse for texting Naruto that he was sorry, and that he was busy, before he got out of the car. He stared at the warehouse just down the block, surrounded by a large mass of empty land, fenced in with rusty, old wire fences. It looked empty, but he knew better than to trust the outward of appearance of anything at this point in his life  
>Upon stepping in through the opening of the gate, he was met with the seemingly ever blushing Karin, who looped her arms around one of his and pulled him in against her chest, "It's been a while," She batted her eyes and giggled softly, clearly trying very hard to display her more feminine side. She was guiding him in the direction of the entrance to the warehouse, chatting him up with unimportant things when another familiar face came into view. With a pale face, and paler hair, his light purple eyes stuck out the most. He flashed a shit-eating grin with shark-like teeth, and flicked a wave.<br>"Sasuke~." He said, earning a glare from Karin. If he noticed it, Sasuke wasn't sure, because he just went on smiling and waving. Suigetsu was instantly punched in the gut by a fuming Karin, who felt as though her oh-so-successful-flirting tactics had been ruined by Suigetsu's polite greeting. The shark-like male let out an angered growl as he grabbed his stomach. The pair exchanged 'fuck you-s', and Sasuke took this as his chance to quickly leave them to their squabble, letting himself inside. The place was filled to the ceiling with crates of what he imagined to be drugs of all kinds. He figured there would be some kind of order behind it all, but he didn't have it in him to attempt to figure it out at that moment, instead, he busied himself with working through it until he found the snake himself. And it was at that moment he realized just how much he was like Kyuubi – they were both disgusting perverts. Turning his back quickly on Kabuto and Orochimaru, he squeezed his eyes shut and did his best to hide his disgust, as the pair dressed themselves. Orochimaru was laughing at Sasuke's reaction, and Kabuto said nothing as he buttoned up his shirt and quickly left the small corner of the room to get back to whatever work he was meant to be doing previously.

"Guess only money will be needed today," Sasuke held in his need to gag, and slowly turned around to find Orochimaru buttoning up his pants, still snickering to himself.  
>"Of course not, sexual favors are just as accepted." He knew it was hypocritical, especially since he had been in the same position that Kabuto had been in moments before several times in his life… but something about seeing it as an outsider made him sick, and completely turned him off the idea. "But before any of that, I truly did wish to speak to you about something more serious." Orochimaru slicked his hair back, pulling a rubber band around it and tying it loosely into a ponytail. "I've been getting sicker and sicker." The man sighed, as he approached the younger boy before him, placing a hand on his shoulder, "You are still interested in taking all this over, aren't you?" The idea had been sparked to him years ago, originally… he had been stupid and eagerly accepted the idea, and he would be lying if he said he was absolutely sure in his previous choice now. "You have time to decide, somewhat anyways… I'm simply curious what goes on in that precious little head of yours." Bony hands were pushed through Sasuke's locks, and the Uchiha shied away almost immediately, making Orochimaru let out a mixture between a laugh and a cough.<p>

"It's come to my attention recently that Kyuubi's been having someone follow you? I found that interesting." Sasuke's heart slammed against his chest, "I was curious as to why you disappeared and so I sent out a small group of my own. I have to admit I was shocked to find Itachi of all people on your back." The man had an amused look to him, an evil one, like he knew something that Sasuke didn't. The Uchiha immediately narrowed his eyes,  
>"What's so funny about Itachi?"<br>"Oh, you don't know?" Orochimaru sang. The snake shook his head and moved on past Sasuke and down the isle of crates, being followed eagerly by Sasuke who clearly had a bunch of questions.  
>"What don't I know?" Sasuke urged, grabbing Orochimaru's shoulder enough to have the snake push him back and glare heatedly at him. The Uchiha narrowed his gaze and grit his teeth, fighting the urge to attack him right then and there – though the blood boiling within his veins was screaming for him to go for it.<p>

"I suggest you not disrespect those who are more deadly than you are," Orochimaru snarled out, leaning down enough to get on the other's level. "Besides," He stared, a small smirk touching his pale and cracked lips, "Information doesn't come cheap from me, and you know that." The other's breath rushed over his face, and sent chills up his spine, and before he knew it, there was a mouth at his throat, kissing, sucking, running along the goose flesh that had formed there. Sasuke just stood there, as still as a statue. He hadn't even noticed the hands that had pushed their way up his shirt and touched at the pale, cool skin that had once been hidden away there. Groping, kissing, touching, Sasuke just stared past the other's shoulder like this was some annoying task he had to deal with to get what he wanted – and well, it was just that. This was life. His life. And then those lips finally met his own, and Sasuke finally closed his eyes, because that was a natural reaction to being kissed. That and he didn't really want to see Orochimaru's face – his stomach was churning, and he felt ill. But he went along with it regardless, why? Because as said time and time again, he was a disgusting human being, and he was desperate to get his fix whether it be of power or drugs, he wanted a change – and if he had to do this to get there?

He felt himself being tugged back, behind another row of crates before being firmly pressed against them, and it was at that point clothing was being torn off of himself and the other like it would be the death of them both otherwise. It was when his lips were attacked for a second time that there was a loud thud, and a shout. Orochimaru pried himself off of the Uchiha and stole a glance from behind one of the crates. There stood a man, wearing a suit made all of black aside from a crimson-red cloud printed to the lower corner of his overcoat. He had his arms folded in front of him as he stepped calmly forward, and from where he stood, he saw Suigetsu knocked out cold on the ground behind him. Perfect. Sasuke, having quickly decided that was the end of that, was quick to pull his pants back up and as he was fumbling to button them up the strange man rounded the corner, and left Orochimaru giggling almost nervously.  
>"Itachi!" The man cried out all too happily. "It's been far too long, has it not?" The way the Akatsuki member calmly smiled at Orochimaru absolutely freaked him out – but that was the least of his problems. He fucked up. He tripped, he fell, and this was where he died, because this man was the grim reaper himself, come to take Sasuke off to hell where he belonged. He was quickly pulling on his shirt, dressing himself so he could at least die with some dignity.<br>"I'll be taking _this_ with me," Itachi said, stopping Sasuke from finishing buttoning up his shirt and quickly tugging him off by the arm. This? Was he not even a person anymore? Why didn't that hurt as much as it should? It was probably because he knew he was nothing but an object all along, something to be used and thrown out… He knew it, and that was what fueled his need to better himself. To become the king opposed to the pawn.

But it seemed the dream wouldn't be coming true any time soon, he was tugged outside into the cool, night air and rushed to a nearby car. He parted his lips to shout something offensive, but barely had time to speak as he was thrown into the back of a fancy black car; similar to the one Kiba often drove him and Naruto around in for jobs. His face hit the leather seats and he groaned as he shoved further inside as Itachi joined him in the back. A door was slammed shut, the engine rumbling to life, and he heard the tires squeal loudly beneath him before the car pulled off and Sasuke quickly snapped up. "What the fuc-" A fist was thrown into his face and Sasuke hit his against the door, quickly grabbing his nose, which became a fountain of blood within a single second. He coughed and spit, and looked through narrowed, black eyes at the man whom had seemingly just kidnapped him. And it was at that moment he saw a hint of disappointment in those seemingly endless, dark eyes.

He didn't know this man, and yet he seemed to think Sasuke shameful, shameful enough to look down at him. It made him sicker than he had felt before, and he moved his hands away from his still bleeding nose to fix himself up into a sitting position. "It's hard to look proper with hickeys on your neck and a broken nose." Itachi commented with a snort, clearly not missing Sasuke attempt at collecting himself. He wished he hadn't had to point it out, because it just further bashed in his already horribly damaged pride. "I expected better from an Uchiha," the man breathed, fumbling with his pack of cigarettes, and much to his surprise, offering one out to him. Sasuke stared at it like it might poison him should he smoke it, looking between the cigarette and Itachi for a couple of seconds before he finally plucked it out of his fingers,  
>"What would you know?" Sasuke said, feeling a bit gutsy during his last few moments of life. He placed it between his lips and from there dug around in his own pockets for his lighter.<br>"I know a lot more than you think I do." Itachi answered calmly after lighting his own cigarette, rolling down his window to blow the smoke out of. "I'd suggest finding a better way of gaining power – because fucking sleazy men for cocaine is not the way to do." Well if that wasn't a knife straight to the heart, than Sasuke didn't know what was. It wasn't often he got people to tell him the truth of his life straight up, not even Kyuubi said much to him other than threaten his life if he didn't change… but this man just went out of his way to batter to prides of random men, didn't he?  
>"Oh? And what about killing me?" Sasuke challenged stupidly, blowing smoke into the other's face. Itachi smirked and rolled his eyes, "Aren't you Akatsuki supposed to be merciless killers?" With a shake of his head, and a scoff, Itachi spoke,<br>"What would you know?"

The car screeched to a stop, and the door was thrown open. He expected to be thrown out, but instead it just got quiet and Itachi looked away, acting as if Sasuke wasn't even there. The Uchiha stared at him for a couple of moments longer before getting out of the car. The door was pulled shut abruptly behind him, and the car sped off before he could even get another foot or two away. He stared after it, narrowing his eyes as he fixed his shirt and ran the sleeve under his nose in a failed attempt to mop up the blood.  
>He turned back to the street he was left on to find himself standing outside of Ichiraku's. He stared at the blinking, neon sign before him for a couple of moments before looking in through the window. He saw a group; Naruto, Kiba, and Shikamaru. Figures.<p>

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><p>Review! Post your questions and ideas, and all that stuff. And share if you can!<p> 


	9. Mysterious

Sorry this is so short. toirjtoiejroit I don't even know. Been in such a writing funk with this one... but I don't wanna drop it like I did the others. :T tiorite help me people.

Also, you can follow my art/writing blog here; http:/ some-shit-drawings . tumblr . com/

It's a lot of useless nonsense, but I'd love to follow you guys and be friends with you all. I like people. Y'know. Some of them.

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><p>"What happened to your nose anyways?" Sasuke fixed his tie as he stepped into work alongside a surprisingly nosy Shikamaru, who had his eyes fixated on the bandaged bridge of his nose. Naruto hadn't been too pleased with the sight of him at dinner last night, quickly assuming the worst; and his train of thought had probably been right. Even so, they hadn't discussed it. The blonde had set his nose back into place; no questions asked, which was probably for the best. But it made things awkward, which slowly began to open his eyes to the pattern of their relationships. They fought, they got awkward, they fucked; they went on for a while happily, Sasuke screwed up, and it would repeat over and over more or less the same way.<br>"Nothing. It was an acciden—"  
>"I call bullshit!" Screamed Kiba, who slapped an unwelcomed hand down on to his back and let out a roar of laughter. "I heard Sakura punched your lights out." Oh. That was actually a pretty good excuse, a sensible excuse. Sasuke blinked, and denied nothing as he continued to walk, heading straight for the elevator.<br>"Is that really what happened?" Shikamaru asked, "Did she find out about Karin?" The two men who eagerly followed behind the Uchiha were obviously curious and eager to get more information, but Sasuke simply stepped into the elevator, pushed them out, and pressed the buttons. They could think what they wanted, and apparently the started rumor worked well in his favor. Who was he to question it? It wasn't like the real story would be good for him.

Somehow, Sasuke wasn't surprised at all to find Itachi standing there once the doors to the elevator slid open. They locked eyes for a second, but much to Sasuke's relief, no words were exchanged; they switched places, and Sasuke continued down the hall, listening to the doors shut behind him and the elevator proceed to what he figured was the first floor. Good. Far away from him. Though he had to wonder if anything was mentioned to Kyuubi, and if he was about to walk in on his own death as he approached the large, elaborately decorated door at the end of long stretch of hallway. He sucked in a breath and pushed a hand through his dark hair, ruffling it pointlessly through his fingers before he knocked a couple of times against the wooden surface. He could hear fumbling inside, and was quick to assume he had one of his whores around, listening as what he figured to be clothing being quickly pulled on; he waited for the 'OK' before grabbing the knob and letting himself inside.

He locked eyes with Naruto who was fumbling with the top button to his dress shirt, the blonde innocently smiling at him. How could anyone look so angelic after having done what he knew he had? At least Sasuke looked the right part for being as fucked up as he was. He stared at the blonde a moment longer before turning to Kyuubi, whose hair was all over the place atop his head. This was gross, so horribly gross. He cleared his throat, and took another step inward, "Did you need me for something?" He asked, wondering his voice betrayed his disgust. Looking to Naruto's still smiling face, he took that as a 'no'.  
>"Hmn? Oh, no. Sorry. Everything's cleared up now," The redhead shook his head and waved him off before wiping the back of his hand along his forehead, letting out a labored breath before leaning forward in his chair. "<em>Actually<em>," He started, "I want you two to do something for me, you know, as my favorites." He gave a devilish grin that sent chills up his spine, "A pesky cop has been snooping around some of our warehouses at night. But from the reports I've been getting, he's been doing it on his own time." Sasuke exchanged a glance with Naruto, brows raised, before they looked back to Kyuubi, "Simply enough, handle it. I don't care how, just do it." In other words, kill him. Simple enough.  
>"Is there any given description of what he might look like?" Naruto asked, and Kyuubi rolled his eyes.<br>"Well, there aren't many cops that go snooping around our places after hours, so I think it should be fairly easy to find him, description or no description." The man huffed, "But if it helps, he's somewhere in his thirties, light hair… but that's all I got." The two boys in front of him nodded their heads, exchanged another look, before promptly leaving.

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><p>"Do you at least use a condom with him?" They had parked their car a few blocked down from one of the warehouses that was said to be the most common target of inspection by the nameless cop.<br>"W-what?" Naruto's face had turned a deep red. "With who?" He cried out, slapping Sasuke's shoulder. The Uchiha rolled his eyes, and dusted off the spot of which Naruto had hit.  
>"You know who. Kyuubi." Sasuke said, deadpan. That man couldn't possibly be clean, not to mention it was just gross! If Sasuke ever chose to sleep with him, he wouldn't care if he had been the man's first, he would wrap him up in a plastic bag so to ensure none of his horrible-ness was rubbed off on him.<br>"He's not diseased…" Naruto gulped loudly, clearly uncomfortable with the conversation, judging from how he turned his head away to face the window.  
>"So you don't?" Sasuke wasn't sure he wanted to have sex with Naruto ever again; he grimaced just knowing Kyuubi had been in there, raw flesh and all. He shuddered.<br>"Sasuke!" Naruto leaned over to hit him again.  
>"Don't fuck the boss in his office if you want me to keep my mouth shut, Naruto." Said the Uchiha as he grasped the hand that attempted to come down on his shoulder. Naruto fumed, and if looks could kill, Sasuke would be dead on the ground. His hand was released and Sasuke leaned back against his seat again, sighing.<br>"Kyuubi is a n—" Sasuke slapped a hand over Naruto's mouth, and pointed with his free hand towards a stranger figure approaching the fenced in warehouse. He dropped his hand from the blonde's mouth and into his lap, leaning in to get a better look at the man.

With both hands on the gate, he shook it a couple of times here and there, before finding the opening and pulling it open with ease, "Kiba forgot to wrap it up with locks." Said Naruto.  
>"He's a dead man." Said Sasuke. They exchanged looks before slowly getting out of their car, and calmly they began to trail the man.<p>

Curiosity kept them from acting right away. Kyuubi had paid off the cops to ignore his illegal affairs, so it wasn't often their business was interrupted by the likes of police officers… but this man would end up like the rest who got a bit too curious for their own good. Dead. "What's he doing?" Asked Naruto as he leaned out of his hiding spot in the shadows to attempt to get a better look, he couldn't quite see his face and it was beginning to drive him mad.  
>"He's looking for a spare key, I'd guess." Thankfully Kiba had locked up the actual doors. Idiot.<br>"I think he found it…" Naruto gulped and tugged Sasuke along, doing their best to remain in the shadows as they grew closer and closer, only stopping when he began to see more and more of the man. With a flash of grayish white hair and mismatched eyes, both boys hearts stopped together in shock.  
>"Shit." They said in unison, staring straight ahead at the side of Kakashi, who must have felt himself being watched, because he turned and locked his eyes on to them. "Shit." They said again together.<p>

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><p>Yeah, this sucks. I'm sorry. Well, if you help me, I'll come up with something better next time, I promise... otherwise this might just die away.<p> 


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